M13 arrived today.

[InSanCen]

Well, my new baby is here. Pics forthcoming in a day or so (Busy days ahead).

It's also reinforced that to get the true gauge of a switch, you need to try a NIB, or almost unused one. The M13 feels quite stiff compared to my long-suffering M's (Constant abuse since 1993). I love it however, although coming straight of my board with ALPS clones that are very light, it is a strain to type compared to even an M.

The Trackpoint is going to take some getting used to, partly in the use of it, but mainly on not hitting it when typing.

This is definately a board that will never get sold on by me. Sadly, it reinforces my love for Buckling springs, and will undoubtedly make me do a Pokemon on the entire (Usable) BS range (Gotta have em all!).

I still blame GeekHack for this illness, but I accept the inevitable now.

[roaduck]

I`m glad you like your new G13 InSanCen - Is that the buckling spring model

with capacitive switches and AT connector and more substantial build than the later

model M`s and a stiffer key action ?

Don`t apologise for loving buckling springs - it is a fantastic invention that stands the test of time.

I`m a lover of "Pure Class A" amplifiers in both tube (vacuum tube) and transistor forms.

It is very expensive, old , simple technology.

It is highly  inefficient  (10-15%) and amps are invariably big and heavy.

A true class A constant bias (ie - voltage and current ) amp gets hot enough to inflict 2nd and 3rd degree burns

but they sound absolutely gorgeous with a lucid, three dimensional midrange and an unfatiguing sound that

is both natural and informative.




I`m still waiting for a supposedly "new old stock"  1391406 keyboard to get here.

It should get delivered next week, with a bit of luck.

[InSanCen]

I`m glad you like your new G13 InSanCen - Is that the buckling spring model

with capacitive switches and AT connector and more substantial build than the later

model M`s ?

I`m still waiting for a supposedly "new old stock"  1391406 to get here.

It should get delivered next week, with a bit of luck.

It's this one...

The mechanism is Buckling springs on Membrane, not capacitive switches like a Model F. It has an integrated Trackpoint, but is just like a Model M in most respects.

[roaduck]

Oh I see, thanks for putting me right on that (track)point LOL

I love big keyboards but saying that I love big tellys, big Hi-Fi`s,big speakers, 20 year old

5 litre Mercedes 500 SEL`s, big box homemade computers, big majestic trees in my

garden, big setees and beds, big,  heavy copper pans.

I think I`ve always had a slight predilection for large things - a "big fetish" as it were.

Enjoy your new tactile `tronic transposer InSanCen

[InSanCen]

I too love a good Class A amp. Wish I could aford mor than I have now (a Hybrid valve/FET, the Unison Unico). When it sounds good, who gives a stuff about efficiency?

[roaduck]

Oh my god you`re a fellow handwarming music lover.That`s brilliant.

I`ve got a Sugden A21a pure class A transistor amp in cascaded 4 npn/pnp mode.

It`s not single -ended like  a good SET but it sounds good for a tranny from 1996.It`s

only 20 watts per channel but sounds more like a 75 watter with liquid midrange , a big

natural soundstage and extended but not harsh treble.It weighs  9kgs even though it`s  

only 3 inches high and has no tone or headphone socket on it.The two heatsinks are

huge.

My Linn Axis turntable has class a smoothed and stabilised AC motor power supply with a

big heatsink on the back and my headphone amp is a Musical Fidelity X-Cans one with a

full class a triode valve power amp inside driving Sennheisser HD600 cans.

The three way speakers are SD Acoustics OBS models that are 3 1/2 foot high 1 foot

wide dipoles with Volt bass, Dynaudio midrange and Scanspeak 9500 sof dome tweeters.

The external 3-way crossover is solid silver-wired with Hovland music capacitors , mil

spec 1% resistors and big hand wound chokes custom designed for my units by Wilmslow

 Audio.

The cd player is a Sugden CD21 with 4 volt pure class a output

Tape decks are Technics RSAZ-7 remote control auto calibrate 3-head and the other is a

tiny but good Sony WM-6DC Professional Walkman.

CD recorder - Traxdata 900 - good for recordings - so-so for playing.

Rack - Black Aria 6-tier custom cables are mostly QED silver.

The radio is a separate Onkyo CR-505 receiver with DAB and FM.

Speakers are Mordaunt Short Avant MS-902 for the micro system and Mordaunt Short

200w MS-309 10` subwoofer.That`s not even half my system - that`s in the bedroom

LOL

[InSanCen]

I have far too many interests, all of which are expensive. This means that though I would love to get something truly kick-ass, i can't afford to, it get's spread around to all the hobbies.

I am envious of your setup. I don't go in for the Ultra high-end setups, as I see too much snake oil peddled (I work in sales, it's easy to spot).

That said, I would kill for the sennheiser orpheous... having heard it, i can but dream about one day owning it (After a lottery win).

[xfocus]

Oh my god you`re a fellow handwarming music lover.That`s brilliant.

I`ve got a Sugden A21a pure class A transistor amp in cascaded 4 npn/pnp mode.

It`s not single -ended like  a good SET but it sounds good for a tranny from 1996.It`s

only 20 watts per channel but sounds more like a 75 watter with liquid midrange , a big

natural soundstage and extended but not harsh treble.It weighs  9kgs even though it`s  

only 3 inches high and has no tone or headphone socket on it.The two heatsinks are

huge.

My Linn Axis turntable has class a smoothed and stabilised AC motor power supply with a

big heatsink on the back and my headphone amp is a Musical Fidelity X-Cans one with a

full class a triode valve power amp inside driving Sennheisser HD600 cans.

The three way speakers are SD Acoustics OBS models that are 3 1/2 foot high 1 foot

wide dipoles with Volt bass, Dynaudio midrange and Scanspeak 9500 sof dome tweeters.

The external 3-way crossover is solid silver-wired with Hovland music capacitors , mil

spec 1% resistors and big hand wound chokes custom designed for my units by Wilmslow

 Audio.

The cd player is a Sugden CD21 with 4 volt pure class a output

Tape decks are Technics RSAZ-7 remote control auto calibrate 3-head and the other is a

tiny but good Sony WM-6DC Professional Walkman.

CD recorder - Traxdata 900 - good for recordings - so-so for playing.

Rack - Black Aria 6-tier custom cables are mostly QED silver.

The radio is a separate Onkyo CR-505 receiver with DAB and FM.

Speakers are Mordaunt Short Avant MS-902 for the micro system and Mordaunt Short

200w MS-309 10` subwoofer.That`s not even half my system - that`s in the bedroom

LOL

I have to ask you a question.  Why is all of your text formatted like this with line breaks

randomly placed in the middle of your sentences?  Are you using a word processor to

break up your text because it breaks the fluidity of your writing.

Just  

Sayin'

[roaduck]

No xfocus I don't use a word processor but I did insert a space between lines to make it clearer to read.If I i try on tabulate the lines they just end up a continuous paragraph (is that what you call periods?) that is hard to decipher.

           It is probably because I am using Opera at 180% magnification because I have a full HD monitor and it's hard to see pronunciation marks etc. without the size enhancement.

In internet explorer , which I hate even more after version 7 you cannot magnify the whole web page at a uniform level, only the text , which, for me, is no good.

I've not used Firefox since about version 1.8 because it's turned into bloatware - I prefer small browsers like OB1 - (Off by One), Ace Explorer and Advanced Browser etc.

[xfocus]

Ah well that would explain it.  Didn't mean to offend, I was just curious as to why all of your posts were formatted like that.  :-)

[roaduck]

You have a gorgeous handmade Italian class a amp InSanCen that sounds to die for.

I wouldn't say my stereo system is high-end at all ; it's just solidly-built mainly British kit which,for the main part, is well over ten years old.I am certainly not going to upgrade it because it's just a mug's game - getting a 1-10% improvement in sound if the components don't clash with eachother and losing hundreds of pounds when you sell off the old components.

I used to flog really serious kit in London in the late eighties/early nineties and I know that a lot of it is over-hyped, overpriced junk that just looks like designer stuff or something home-made.

I've been around a couple of British hi-fi manufacturer factories and I know what sort of components they use.The biggest cost of most 17" wide components is the case and the power supply and a lot of companies skimp on them.

I have seen, for example, £10 a pair of tweeters in £1000 speaker designs and a £20 cd mechanism in a £2300 cd player - this is typical practice and it's scandalous.

[roaduck]

xfocus my current emergency pc can barely cope with xp pro, its only 900 megs! never mind complicated browsers.

My mp3's stop playing when google goes looking for something and it freezes so much; it drives me bonkers.If I get time next week I'll set the new one up-Vista had to go 'cos I hate it and I have to install loads of software in it and tweak it with registry settings etc - it's a pain to do with no image to swap over.

[InSanCen]

You have a gorgeous handmade Italian class a amp InSanCen that sounds to die for.

I like it... thanks.

I have seen, for example, £10 a pair of tweeters in £1000 speaker designs and a £20 cd mechanism in a £2300 cd player - this is typical practice and it's scandalous.

Yeah, I'm well aware of the snake-oil that is prevalent like cancer in the Audio world (you won't believe this).

These days, I like to build my own (Gainclones). about £100 for a nice sounding amp.

[ch_123]

This is definately a board that will never get sold on by me. Sadly, it reinforces my love for Buckling springs, and will undoubtedly make me do a Pokemon on the entire (Usable) BS range (Gotta have em all!).

I still blame GeekHack for this illness, but I accept the inevitable now.

Get one of these. You won't want any more after that

with capacitive switches and AT connector and more substantial build than the later

That's the Model F you're thinking about (one I linked in the first half of this post) The M13 was the Lexmark 42H1292 with a Trackpoint.

[roaduck]

I love the old IBM buckling spring keyboards because I adore the sound and the feel of them but the thing I most appreciate is their simplicity.There is no clutter, no extraneous
lights and no superfluous  windows buttons.

I seriously doubt if any modern complex keyboard will last even five years; never mind twenty and still work flawlessly.

[microsoft windows]

I agree. You can tell by the weight that a Model M can last a lifetime.

[shortround]

"Heavy is good, heavy is reliable.  If it does not work, you can always hit him with it."

[Rajagra]

"Heavy is good, heavy is reliable.  If it does not work, you can always hit him with it."

Sound off people:
"This is my Model M. There are many like it but this one is mine. My Model M is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my Model M is useless. Without my Model M I am useless."