ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Christmas is always a special occasion.
Cheers,
Jeff
Beogram 4000, Beogram 4002, Beogram 4004, Beogram 8000, Beogram 8002, Beogram 1602. Beogram 4500 CD player, B&O CDX player, Beocord 4500, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 8004, Beocord 9000, Beomaster 1000, Beomaster 1600, Beomaster 2400.2, Beomaster 2400.2, Beomaster 4400, Beomaster 4500, Beolab 5000, Beomaster 5000, BeoCenter 9000. BeoSound Century, S-45.2, S-45.2, S-75, S-75, M-75, M-100, MC 120.2 speakers; B&O Illuminated Sign (with crown & red logo). B&O grey & black Illuminated Sign, B&O black Plexiglas dealer sign, B&O ash tray, B&O (Orrefors) dealer award vase, B&O Beotime Clock. Navy blue B&O baseball cap, B&O T-shirt X2, B&O black ball point pen, B&O Retail Management Binder
And the table BEFORE all the food was served.
A merry Christmas to all you grumpy gourmets, its a delight to read this thread and share with you, I have a duck in the oven, slow cooking for 3 hours more, made rice a la mande and the strawberries are cooking to make the sauce for it. The Mexicans dine very late on Christmas eve, around 10 pm, as I was travelling nearly all of December, my contribution to the dinner is very small this year, but other family members will jump in.
I am not grumpy this evening, I am seriously pi###ed off, 2 hours ago I destroyed a voice coil in a phase link driver, the reason: Stupidity or "I can make everything better and faster" attitude, who to blame, myself.
Even so have a merry and very blessed Christmas even if you have to eat steak. And Jeff beautiful table.
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.
Mexico, UPS or Fedex, and let me pay this time, you have a PM, and thank you you made me a happy Xmas man.
Why thank you kindly Søren.
Sorry about your voice coil.
Did you notice in the “What’s Playing Now” thread that my Beomaster 4400/Beogram 8000/MC102.2/Fisher XP66 speakers completely outclassed the Beomaster 2400/Beogram 4200, and S75 speakers while playing my NEW Bette Midler LP’s?
Totally unexpected considering how much I love the S75 speakers and detest the MC120.2 speakers. However the Fisher XP66 speakers add a lot (although one is missing both the tweeter and mid-range and the other a tweeter) as the Fisher woofers do so much to compensate for the MC120.2 speakers utter lack of bass.
I guess the deciding factor is the mild performance of the Beomaster 2400 and at the same time the Beomaster 4400 was in a “good mood.” That and I assume my MMC20CL cartridge is slipping a bit whereas the much older MMC6000 in the Beogram 8000 is still in top form.
Christmas dinner is going to be a pepperoni, red pepper, mushroom, onion, garlic, olive, and barbequed chicken pizza.
Oddly enough with family coming in from all over the place and one major dinner already past there is nothing planned for tonight. Great! Peace and quiet.
Tomorrow, Christmas Day will be the BIG family gathering with turkey, stuffing, and all the trimmings as expected….. only the middle brother’s new fiancée and her mother (from Calgary) are doing the cooking. Now THAT should be interesting in my father-in-law’s kitchen. (Both ladies are vegetarians and insist on organic everything, or they won’t eat it!)
Dessert is being hand brought from Edmonton. I wanna hear how anyone can carry a pie on an airplane these days.
Then Boxing Day is dinner for the entire family at Butchart Gardens and a walk though the gorgeous park afterwards. It is all lit up and is absolutely beautiful. Plus the food is amazing!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Just one more, the dining room at Butchart Gardens.
Yes I saw your post in "playing", and I am grumpy because you got the vinyl, and I only the CD, I will order the vinyl. I will play that through my BM 4400, BG 5000, MMC2, and the Beovox M70is, thanks to Rich. my TX2 plays OK but lately it makes awful distortions on the last track, it always sounded great all way through.
Tonight we will be about 30 persons in the home of my sister in love, same every year, I try to differ the menu every year because they always serve the same traditional Mexican, its good food, but I am more to European and diversity. Tomorrow big party, my nephew is inaugurating his new pent house apartment. The weekend and the new year will be here, still thinking about the food, but as they always bring something, and always come late, I will have to keep it simple. I was hoping to start my M70is on new years eve, but not so, the BL 8000 will have to do. Now Enjoy Christmas and the food. And thank you for being the one you are the last year.
Hi Søren,
“Thank you for being the one you are the last year?” I am not sure I get that, but as this is Christmas I must take that as a compliment, so in response, you are welcome…. I think.
As for the Bette Midler LP set, oh man, you are going to LOVE it! I am absolutely positive!
The album cover is of superb quality, much thicker than the usual two-record set so it will clearly stand out among all your other records.
Then when you drop the record from its custom sleeve with the songs listed, you are going to be blown away by the PINK color of the record. What a fantastic touch, so perfect for what it truly a special album. And not to worry the record is opaque so your 5000 can play it. (If the 5000 doesn’t have a senor, skip that remark, but the 4000 & 8000 series can play these records with no problem.
Now as for my stereo system comparison it was lighthearted, doesn’t mean a thing. That an odd collection of crippled equipment makes for a wonderful sound….. well so much the better.
When I get serious about this remarkable album, which will no doubt be tomorrow, then I will play them both on my iconic Beogram 4000 and its ancient but legendary MMC20CL cartridge in concert with the mighty McIntosh 2255, Linn Isobaric/McIntosh ML2 speakers and enjoy a LIVE performance.
If those records sounded as good as they did on my Beomaster 4400/Beogram 8000/MMC6000/B&O ML120.2/Fisher speakers can you just imagine how they will sound with the big Mac and the Beogram 4000? OMG, I could sell tickets!
Seriously, buy this album. I think Amazon.com has then in stock.
All the best my friend!
Søren,
If I didn’t temp you sufficiently…… ta-da…. the PINK record.
I was right, it is amazing, simply amazing on the Beogram 4000.
Right Jeff, I have to get it, it is now in my wish list, Amazon is now shipping vinyl to Mexico, I will find one or two more LPs to see if shipping gets cheaper with more, now I have to pay about USD 10.00 for one LP, now off to party in a penthouse
Apparently nothing grumpy about Xmas and new year, not even from me. Jeff has reason to be grumpy, he lost his mother, but even so he showed up in another thread, head up Jeff, our thoughts are with you.
I hope all of you came through the ordeal undamaged and still with money in bank after the gift frenzy, I gave my FS a new refrigerator, mostly because the old one stopped producing ice for my cubas. The old one passed 20 years with us, To the children in the family I gave books, real books, reading a book is something that goes into history these days. For some of the children it was a first, for a couple of the children I read a chapter of Huckleberry Finn, Some of them listened. I even observed a couple of adults listening in. I am not against all the new electronics things that shows up nowadays, but a real book is something that must not disappear.
This just to get the grumpy old men activated again, may you have a happy new year, and may your gods go with you.
Yep, I have a few things to be grumpy about, but always things to be happy about as well, like your kind words.
So you gave your beautiful FS a new refrigerator for Christmas? Oh you are brave; I hope you at least had the good sense to wrap a big red bow around it.
BeoNut since '75
chartz: My only problem was that not being at home but at my mum's place in Dijon, and not having my usual environment - and oven - it looks a bit odd.
Have the same problem Jacques, down here in Mexico we cook with propane gas, in the US everything is electrical, so sometimes it comes out kind of strange.
Our new car arrived today, so to celebrate I made a small dish, prepared the table with a candle and, essential, the danish flag, Fish fillet ( Blanco Real) conditioned with lemon, cayenne pepper, salt and Dijon mustard, white potatoes with a little basil, mustard sauce, white vine (Mexican Blanc de Blanc).
Søren Mexico: chartz: My only problem was that not being at home but at my mum's place in Dijon, and not having my usual environment - and oven - it looks a bit odd. Have the same problem Jacques, down here in Mexico we cook with propane gas, in the US everything is electrical, so sometimes it comes out kind of strange.
Not everywhere in the US is gas free...Florida where I used to live was mostly so, but places that have a lot of gas heat instead of heat pumps,,that is anwhere it gets somewhat cold you find gas. I live not too far from Atlanta and have gas heat, water heater, and cooktop, but electric ovens. I'd never cooked on gas before, and was amazed it took no getting used to. Everything I hated about electric stoves was better. Love gas. I have never used an induction cooktop though.
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
I hate it when I go to Texas, I normally take over the kitchen and cook every day, mostly having problems with my oven recipes this most because of the altitude difference and the electric ovens, and the difference between one oven and the other, as Jacques mention, down here in Mexico I can make a wonder crunchy pizza base, up there it gets hard and/or burned at the edges, not to speak of a fillet Wellington
Guys, I gotta tell you I HATE gas.
We had a gas Trane central heat in Redmond, Washington and the furnace developed holes and the exhaust went right back into the house. Dam near killed us.
Here in the Great White North gas is common.
We had gas everything in View Royal and although the range was impressive, gas scorches the bottom of the pans and gas smells. Well it does.
Also had a frightening gas furnace that had trouble lighting….. nothing minor.
However a gas water heater is a good thing.
I am sure it is not news that gas ovens are not good. The best gas ranges: Wolf, Thermador, and Gaggenau all come with extravagant gas burners and electric oven.
We now have a radiant cook top….. heats instantly, with amazing evenness and temperature control….. plus is a snap to clean up.
Pies Cakes Cookies and other such wonderful things is what I like to bake.
Bacon Caesar Pizza
Kraft bacon dressing
Maple garlic and smoked paprika barbequed chicken
Chorizo sausage sliced
Bacon, a whole LOT of bacon
Sautéed mushrooms sliced
Sautéed sweet onions, green peppers, and garlic
Roma tomatoes sliced
Diced jalapeños
The home-made crust is a great touch. All ovens are different, just bake until a golden brown. In our oven about 15 minutes.
Good one Jeff, I´m just back from Aguascalientes, terrible hotel, one day no hot water, and that in Aguascalientes, the restaurant with matching dirty table tops, evenly dirty from the last 20 guests, and the last morning I ordered my eggs and bacon, the waiter came back with the message, we are out of bacon, I told him give me my eggs sunny side up, and extra refried beans, the eggs came cold with cold half cooked beans. Half a mile down the road I found a hotel that looks better, I will try that the next time I am up there.
Jeff: Søren Mexico: chartz: My only problem was that not being at home but at my mum's place in Dijon, and not having my usual environment - and oven - it looks a bit odd. Have the same problem Jacques, down here in Mexico we cook with propane gas, in the US everything is electrical, so sometimes it comes out kind of strange. Not everywhere in the US is gas free...Florida where I used to live was mostly so, but places that have a lot of gas heat instead of heat pumps,,that is anwhere it gets somewhat cold you find gas. I live not too far from Atlanta and have gas heat, water heater, and cooktop, but electric ovens. I'd never cooked on gas before, and was amazed it took no getting used to. Everything I hated about electric stoves was better. Love gas. I have never used an induction cooktop though.
Natural gas is favoured in the UK for both central heating and cooking, with those off the gas grid using oil for heating. Gas is about 1/3 the cost of electricity here. Having said that we opted for an induction hob in our apartment and were amazed at how fast, clean and controllable it was. It's the most efficient way to use electricity because the heat is induced directly in the iron or steel based pan. You can actually place paper between the glass hob and the pan base and it will be more or less unaffected by the heating process.
Graham
I've seen oil heat in places, usually in the Northeast US. And I've seen big propane tanks on some more rural homes, including, yes, trailers. In Florida we put in a gas fireplace and had two largish outside tanks but it hardly ever got cold enough to use even in the winter. We use it a lot here a bit north of where we were though.We're only about 500 mile or so north but it makes all the difference in the world though, we actually have 4 seasons here instead of the 1.2 we had in Florida, Summer, plus a tiny bit of something not summer.
I've not used or known anyone who has used an induction cooktop, but I find them fascinating, and your comments mesh with what I've read. Most people seem to love them. I can see advantages with that approach, the only drawback I could see is some limitation on cookware but not much of one.
We never smell gas in the house, no stink at all, though I remember it from when I grew up and was around houses that used gas. Not sure what the difference is. Maybe that the stovetop doesn't have a pilot light running constantly, but the fireplace does and it never smells. What I do like about gas coming from conventional electric is the ability to change the burner setting immediately, it has no lag like electric, and you can run it at a very low simmer more easily. With every electric range I had "low" was created by turning the burner off and on and off and on with a duty cycle to allegedly mimic low heat, what it did though was alternate between not being hot enough to simmer and being too hot and boiling.
Plus the stovetop I got has a big, 18,000 BTU plus center burner which is great for a wok or searing steaks in a cast iron skillet at about 500 deg F. I think I'd like the fact that induction heats water even faster than the big burner. Anyone ever cook in a wok on induction? I'm thinking that should work really well, especially as all the best woks are the inexpensive, carbon steel ones you get at restaurant supply houses and Asian markets.
Hi Jeff,
Yes, flat bottomed woks (!) work well on induction. You are right about the cookware. No aluminium, but a lot of manufacturers are now embedding a steel or iron disk in the base of aluminium pans. (Don't you think that the 'ium' ending is more scientifically logical than 'um'?)
On controllability, yes, we always liked the instant control with gas, but there is absolutely no control lag with induction. The only draw back with the flat, easy clean glass hobs is that if you let a pan boil over the liquid quickly runs off the hob and onto the worktop and cupboard fronts. Usually with gas there's a bit of a depression around the burners that prevents that happening.
Graham, argh! Aluminium may be actually more appropriate, in the vein of radium, cadmium, etc. but it still drives me nuts to hear it said like that! Probably as I was born and raised in a country that calls it aluminum.
The depression in a gas cooktop is good and bad. As you say it stops runovers from spreading, but it's a bear to clean compared with wiping down a flat surface. I did think of one disadvantage, you can't use a round bottomed wok. I have two good woks, one larger flat bottom one, and a smaller round bottom one. With the ring I can use it over gas well, not well over electric and I think it wouldn't work on induction, not get close enough to couple well.
Søren Mexico: Good one Jeff, I´m just back from Aguascalientes, terrible hotel, one day no hot water, and that in Aguascalientes, the restaurant with matching dirty table tops, evenly dirty from the last 20 guests, and the last morning I ordered my eggs and bacon, the waiter came back with the message, we are out of bacon, I told him give me my eggs sunny side up, and extra refried beans, the eggs came cold with cold half cooked beans. Half a mile down the road I found a hotel that looks better, I will try that the next time I am up there.
I must say your hotel selection of late has been at best questionable. However, you do seem to routinely make the best of it to your credit.
As you may recall the only time I visited Mexico was Tijuana and it made a lasting impression on me. Colorful, to be sure, but boy was I ever glad to get back to San Diego.
Hi Jeff, Graham…. and well everone,
As mentioned way back I hate the gas range as it burns the bottom of the pans making it almost impossible to clean and I never did quite get the hang on controlling the flame heat…. always too little or too much.
And the clean up was a problem as the splatters become black crust and it difficult to get off the surfaces.
Now the glass cook top is something else. The induction heat is instant and it cools almost as quickly. Plus the clean up is a snap.
However what I really like is the precise temperature control which is amazing. With a digital readout you always know exactly how much heat you are using making over/under cooking almost impossible.
As for cookware aluminum should be avoided at all costs! Aluminum, if overheated gives off fumes that are toxic and in the extreme case lethal.
In my youth I used Revere Ware, stainless steel construction with copper bottoms the company claimed provided perfectly even heating. Well maybe, just maybe when the pans were new, but over time they all warped and that convex shape was anything BUT even.
I also have a case iron skillet (from my mother) and I know there are those who swear by them, but it is so damn heavy and it really hard to clean. I keep it as a memento but don’t use it anymore.
I really like the stainless steel stuff; Cuisinart in particular is a good weight and well balanced….. cooks very evenly. [:D]
Lastly, I also really enjoy the convection oven as the circulating air really gets things cooked evenly and fast.
Jeff (s),
AumInium seems to have a lot of things (besides spelling) against it!
When cooking venison steak this evening I tried an induction experiment and gradually lifted the small frying pan from the hob surface. The induction carried on until the gap got to about 10mm at which point an 'F' for fault appeared on the display. That reminded me of another advantage of induction- the power goes off the instant you take the pan from the hob, even if you forget to turn it off. Of course induction is not totally foolproof - like any other cooking appliance you can leave it on and forget about what you are cooking.
I believe this fault is actually a safety feature according to the manufacturer. Plus generally there is no need for the element to be on if there is no pan or skillet. (Your choice)
Venison steak, I'm envious. Can't buy that here, though there's a lot of deer hunters so maybe I should befriend some or start hunting. That would be a great excuse to buy a new rifle too.
When I visited relatives in Wyoming we had venison, moose, and elk. Interesting and wonderful stuff.
I think only Teflon pans out gas fumes at high heat, never heard of aluminum doing that. I have a couple of Cuisenart pans, most of mine are AlClad which I've had very good luck with. I have both non stick and regular, plus cast iron. For some things there is nothing better, like searing steaks or making proper cornbread. And "real" cornbread does most certainly not have sugar in it.
For eggs I use a Bialetti pan, coated with some kind of non stick white metal oxide. I've never seen anything slicker, once the bottom of the egg sets up it scoots around the pan like a hovercraft.
And for some reason I've not noticed gas damaging or messing up the pan bottoms. That sounds like poor combustion efficiency in the burner.
The venison steak was frozen and from New Zealand, bought at the German owned supermarket Aldi. I don't know whether you have Aldi in the US, but despite their low-cost image and strange layout (tools next to vegetables!) they do source some very high quality food.
My daughter has a neighbour in his nineties who survived WWII Dunkirk. He refuses to set foot in Aldi (or drive a German car)!
vikinger: The venison steak was frozen and from New Zealand, bought at the German owned supermarket Aldi. I don't know whether you have Aldi in the US, but despite their low-cost image and strange layout (tools next to vegetables!) they do source some very high quality food. My daughter has a neighbour in his nineties who survived WWII Dunkirk. He refuses to set foot in Aldi (or drive a German car)! Graham
Good to know, they opened up an Aldi in my podunk rural town not long ago but I haven't been it it yet, in fact have never been in an Aldi. Will have to go check it out. If they also have venison steak I'll be a happy guy, even though that means I don't have an excuse to buy a hunting rifle.
The mother of a good college friend was a Canadian nurse in the UK during WWII. To the day she died she was not a fan of anything German, having lost her first fiance early in the war. Also knew an engineer where I worked who, when he was young and living with his missionary parents in Asia, got the privilege of spending the duration in a Japanese prison camp. He went far beyond her in his hatred of the Japanese, but then he got to see things similar to the Bataan Death March up close and personal, which as a kid had a long lasting effect.
I will check out the Aldi soon. The grocery stores here carry odd selections you wouldn't expect. The big nice Publix is about like all of them, except the Publix stores in Florida where I lived had a lot more Hispanic foods, here we have more collard greens and such. But the odd thing is one of the low end stores is the one with all the Indian jar sauces and marinades and chutneys, the (no kidding) Piggly Wiggly, the logo is a happy smiling pig with a butchers hat on, and no other store stocks this. Very strange.
Yet another “senior moment” this end, I stand corrected, it is Teflon® that has the over-heating problem, not aluminum. Sorry about that. I gotta stop posting in the morning before the coffee has had time to kick in!
My God Rich, that plate is just PERFECT for that colossal sandwich! My cholesterol shot up just looking at it, but it was worth it. I think I’ll skip my story about my recent encounter with the paramedics….