Seems to me it's been a bit quiet on the boards recently so I thought a sort of 'omnibus' thread might liven things up.

Does anyone have good recommendations for stunning recordings of Handel's water music?

After many years of trouble-free service, I messed up my stereo power amp by getting the left channel speaker lead shorted when moving the speakers. I would have taken it to Serv-a-tronics in Glen Burnie, but they've recently gone out of business.

Any recommendations for stereo equipment repair in the Baltimore/D.C. area?

The amp is a Kenwood Basic M2A.

Or is it just time to go ahead and get a new amp? I was thinking about an Adcom GFA-5500 or GFA-5400. Any other suggestions for new amp choices?

Thank you.

Hola,

I was driving along, grooving to the smooth FM stylings of Chic's "Good Times" when it hit me that they have really sucky violins in that tune.

Well, that made me wonder:

Has there ever been a rock/soul/R&B tune that was BETTER for having violins in it?

I can't think of any.

Paul Simon's "Something So Right" is my most outstandingly egregious example of violins killing a tune. Right now.

Now, don't get me wrong, fiddle can be just fine...

"Come on Eileen" needs that fiddle. I'm talking violins.

Where have you gone? I enjoy the ramblings on anything audio that tickles the writers fantsy.

What's a good home-brew LP cleaning fluid?