Having temporarily shelved my plans to go over to the dark side with a music server I have come full circle and am about to make the plunge into analogue.

As a true "Linnie" the LP12 is the only way I can think of going and I need some advice as to what to look out for in the Sondek?? world of vintage tables.

My Dual CS505 gave up the ghost when it went into storage 15 years ago and I've forgotten all I learnt with that classic!

I've heard about a power amp needing time to warm up. I can hear it in my system when for the first 20 or so minutes the sound is harsh and unfocused. What I also notice is that initially there seems to be some distortion around the crossover frequencies for my speakers (I have a 3-way system). It's almost unbearable with some vocalists when their voice sweeps up and down. The problem goes away together with the harshness after a little while.

Is this something to do with the amp or the voice coils/crossover assembly? Do speakers need to warm up too?

Does anyone have any experience with (Matthew James) Cello Strings speakers cables? Any opinions (or experience) on the whole story about the Cello / Viola / Levinson legacy? This "new" vs "old" story sort of puts me off, while all I want to know is whether the "current" Strings are good value...

Here's some speaker sales statistics that surprised me, when Matthew Polk gave them to me on a recent trip to Baltimore:

Total speaker sales in 2005: $358 million, up from $294 million in 2004.
Sales of conventional floorstanding speakers: $74 million!!!!

By far the largest-selling category was ceiling speakers, at $115 million, with in-wall speakers at $62 million, outdoor speakers at $53 million, and shelf speakers at $55 million.