Ron's Speaker, Turntable, Power and Room Treatment Upgrades

[Ron Resnick]

Not an audio matter, but a family development regarding Bellini . . .

The discovery of the waterproofing problem with the concrete retaining wall of our house led to a very complicated project to excavate the entire retaining wall 120 feet across the street and 23 feet below street level. Since that project started in 2014, Bellini, our red car, has been marooned in the garage unable to traverse the excavation trench just outside of our garage.

Bellini's fluids dried up, her tires went flat, and her gasoline congealed into sclerotic sludge. Her battery discharged completely dead, and the poor thing flat-lined. It was tragic. The worst thing you can do to a car like her is to let it sit idle and still for years, and that is exactly what happened to her.

A few weeks ago the trench outside the garage finally was covered, and we called a hospital EMS unit to pick Bellini up and take her to the hospital. Sadly, when the paramedics arrived -- after four years -- Bellini could not be revived.

They had to keep her connected to a defibrillator to float enough current over her dead battery to start the engine, Frankenstein-style.

This is how she looked going to the hospital:







After three weeks in the hospital we got the call that Bellini came out of a deep coma and she was ready to be picked up:







It was a joy to see her alive again! She looked as good as new!


Now we are letting her enjoy a long and much-needed rest:

 

[Folsom]

Your patients amaze me Ron. I'm glad you got your nice car rescued.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you, Folsom. It is good to have her back.

The doctor said that all of her fluids needed to be suctioned out and replaced, and a couple of dry tubes and I think her timing belt needed to be changed. Of course a brand new battery was needed.

But, overall, the doctor said she came through it surprisingly well.

When she came out of the Intensive Care Unit she barely remembered me or my wife, let alone her German brother, Gunther.

 

[GMKF]

Thank you, Folsom. It is good to have her back.

The doctor said that all of her fluids needed to be suctioned out and replaced, and a couple of dry tubes and I think her timing belt needed to be changed. Of course a brand new battery was needed.

But, overall, the doctor said she came through it surprisingly well.

When she came out of the Intensive Care Unit she barely remembered me or my wife, let alone her German brother, Gunther.

I'm glad everything came out the way it did for you Ron. Very nice car by the way. Is the car a manual or the F1 gearbox ?

A friend of mine has a Porsche 928S4 that he had in California and it was in storage/shipping/customs for close to 2 years and the california-gas went bad.
Basically the 10-ish % ethanol in the gas chewed trough the inner liner of the fuel tank (after the ethanol stabilizers evaporated )and produced a kind of gu-ish substance. That got sucked up by the fuel pump- And resulted in the destruction of the entire fuel system. Injectors, pumps, everything....

Have you got a battery tender ?
Anyway, go out and have a nice drive in the Angeles Forest.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Thank you, Folsom. It is good to have her back.

The doctor said that all of her fluids needed to be suctioned out and replaced, and a couple of dry tubes and I think her timing belt needed to be changed. Of course a brand new battery was needed.

But, overall, the doctor said she came through it surprisingly well.

When she came out of the Intensive Care Unit she barely remembered me or my wife, let alone her German brother, Gunther.

very happy to hear all is ok with your baby. she is a beauty. i could tell when you spoke of her during your visit there was 'love' in your heart for her.

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

Nice 360 Spider Ron!
After sitting that long did the oil/water combination pump need to be replaced? A very common victim of sitting for long periods.
Is she F1 or manual?
Daytona seats, please say yes.

 

[Zero000]

I track drove one a good number of years ago now - the solid top one - Moderna I believe, versus an Aston Martin DB9.

I preferred the Ferrari, though I made the instructor paranoid and she kept applying the brakes (she had some fitted passenger side) way before I thought it was necessary. That spoilt it a bit.

Then I went out with a pro driver in a Lotus Elise as a passenger. For track driving I have to say the Elise was super good fun, especially when thrashed by a pro! So low to the ground, the suspension revealing every little imperfection in the track. Brilliant on the track, really exciting and the better of the Ferrari and Aston in that respect, but more than 50 miles on normal roads? No thanks!

 

[spiritofmusic]

Get real, boys.
You want a car with style, comfort, timeless aesthetics...and 0-60 in 17.4s.
You want a 1968 Citroën DS21.

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

I track drove one a good number of years ago now - the solid top one -Moderna Modena pronounced "mode-n-ah, not "mow-dean-ah" trust me I was instantly corrected the first time I mis-pronounced it! I believe, versus an Aston Martin DB9.

I preferred the Ferrari, though I made the instructor paranoid and she kept applying the brakes (she had some fitted passenger side) way before I thought it was necessary. That spoilt it a bit. That sucked!

Then I went out with a pro driver in a Lotus Elise as a passenger. For track driving I have to say the Elise was super good fun, especially when thrashed by a pro! So low to the ground, the suspension revealing every little imperfection in the track. Brilliant on the track, really exciting and the better of the Ferrari and Aston in that respect, but more than 50 miles on normal roads? No thanks!

If you are going to go that route then this is your ticket. Scary good in the Go-Cart category!

 

[GMKF]

Get real, boys.
You want a car with style, comfort, timeless aesthetics...and 0-60 in 17.4s.
You want a 1968 Citroën DS21.

No thankyou.
I'll take a Citroen SM.

 

[spiritofmusic]

GM, now you’re talking my language.
I’ve lusted after an SM since 1975, when one was parked outside my house for a year.
You do know of it’s legendary unreliability, all its engineers turn to the bottle eventually?
Forget to sort the timing chains every 5k miles, and the pistons explode, shredding the engine block.
Just saying...

 

[Zero000]

If you are going to go that route then this is your ticket. Scary good in the Go-Cart category!

View attachment 40615

It's pretty too. It has issues though. I did read up on it a lot a while back. I bet it is great fun, despite the flaws.

 

[andromedaaudio]

aprillia rsv 4 rf by andromeda61, on Flickr
More my thing for an adrenaline rush, off course italian .
That alfa looks indeed Nice too as does rons red italian

 

[andromedaaudio]

In belgium overhere you can buy your own numberplate for 1 K
Last week a 458 italia went by me , his plate said FOllOW ME. Kinda cool i thought

 

[Ron Resnick]

I'm glad everything came out the way it did for you Ron. Very nice car by the way. Is the car a manual or the F1 gearbox ?

A friend of mine has a Porsche 928S4 that he had in California and it was in storage/shipping/customs for close to 2 years and the california-gas went bad.
Basically the 10-ish % ethanol in the gas chewed trough the inner liner of the fuel tank (after the ethanol stabilizers evaporated )and produced a kind of gu-ish substance. That got sucked up by the fuel pump- And resulted in the destruction of the entire fuel system. Injectors, pumps, everything....

Have you got a battery tender ?
Anyway, go out and have a nice drive in the Angeles Forest.

The car has a manual transmission. I like the manual on a car like that.

So sorry to hear about your friend’s 928. The 928 was a great car. It actually was my favorite Porsche (other than the Carrera GT).

I used the battery tender for a long time but, ultimately, I concluded it didn’t really work. The battery seemed to discharge slowly anyway somehow.

The battery seemed to last longer if I manually disconnected it. Manually disconnecting the battery was the procedure recommended to me by my local Ferrari service center.

 

[Ron Resnick]

very happy to hear all is ok with your baby. she is a beauty. i could tell when you spoke of her during your visit there was 'love' in your heart for her.

Thank you very much, Mike!

 

[Ron Resnick]

Nice 360 Spider Ron!
After sitting that long did the oil/water combination pump need to be replaced? A very common victim of sitting for long periods.
Is she F1 or manual?
Daytona seats, please say yes.

Thank you!

No, no pump needed to be replaced.

Yes, manual transmission.

No, no Daytona seats. I liked the regular seats with red piping.

 

[GMKF]

So sorry to hear about your friend’s 928. The 928 was a great car. It actually was my favorite Porsche (other than the Carrera GT).

I might fall into the 928 "trap" soon aswell... Or I buy some audio equipment instead of building my own.

The battery seemed to last longer if I manually disconnected it. Manually disconnecting the battery was the procedure recommended to me by my local Ferrari service center.

Do you have a battery cut off switch ? I think some 360's came with a knob in the frunk that disconnects the battery.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Yes, there is a battery disconnect knob in the front storage area.

 

[Ed.P]

I used to have to manually disconnect the battery on my old V12 XJS or it would discharge by morning. Easier to disconnect thanidentify the culprit.