Radio Raheem it’s funny to read your comment on the iPod, made me laugh.

I remember when I was leaving a job years ago, they gave me an iPod as part of my leaving present. I looked at it and said what is this? And I said I will be taking it back to exchange for something else, it sounded ungrateful but better to be honest. They said yes we know you only use tape personals but they wanted to bring me into the digital age, I said thanks but no thanks. I never even took it out of the packaging.

Talking about portables not having good amps to drive most descent headphones. Only my D6C is capable of driving my Etymotic ER-4S properly, I finally decided to get a headphone amp.

I have been doing some research for which is best for me, in the end i decided to go for a Ray Samuels The Shadow as it’s rated highly and it’s tiny. I wrote to Ray Samuels and then spoke to him on the phone, he suggested I get the P-51 Mustang as the ER-4S is a difficult 100 Ohm load. The P-51 Mustang has higher gain and a higher voltage swing.

I have now ordered the P-51 Mustang in red and black, can’t wait to try it out.

Has anyone here had any experience with either of these amps or any Ray Samuels amp’s it would be good to hear what you think?

Amp review http://www.headfonia.com/rsa-t...adow-or-the-mustang/

Rays website http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/p-51

Thanks toocool...To be honest I hate the ipod that much..that is probbly a big part of why i was banned from the other sight...i was always creating a stink about it...but without consideration for others, so that's where i went wrong...I just dont like to see people being shafted by todays technology...and thanks for the read I too found your comments funny..all good my friend...

I think the feeling from unwrapping  a nice tape and recording a nice tape for in a walkman or so will never be the same as any silly mp3!

It is too easy these days, you can just use frostwire or find a song on joutoob and steal it (    )

You are so right Walkgirl, I like having something solid that I can see and touch. Nothing to see or touch with mp3.

Thats exactly why i won't pay for mp3 walkgirl..because I feel you own nothing..your so right..

I remember when I first began listening to popular music and buying cassettes, my older cousin said she would never appreciate tapes over records.  She said albums were more cool to carry to a party and to share with your friends...you could gaze at the cover art and read the liner notes while you listened.  At the time I thought she was weird for saying that but she was right.  While a tape or CD isn't quite as fun to look at as an LP, it's a far better experience than what an MP3 will give you.

Lets change the subject for a mo...Paul my man what boomboxes do you own???pics my man...i realize your on the spot now dude.. I mean I don't belive anybody has seen a single boombox of yours..and how long have we been around

Hi Raheem,

I'm down to three:

Sharp VZ-V20 (red one)

Sharp CT-6001 (used for the stereo2go image up top)

National/Panasonic RS-4360

and if you count single speaker radios, I have a Toshiba RT-2880.

You may have seen a few that I've owned over the years, some of the boomboxes on the "Boombox Museum" web pages belonged to me.

You have a red vz that has to be a rare beast mate...I need to refresh on the museaum side of things was there last month...from my point of view and im shure many others...that has to be the most historical place with info on the boombox...

Your cousin is so right having a record especially the albums with gatefold covers, just look amazing. Those days they put a lot of effort into the album cover designs.

With regard to Ray Samuel’s headphone amps, anyone have one or have opinions on them?

Cassettes were so practical back in the day, either recording from radio, albums , cassette to cassette. My humble opinion especially when it comes to sharing beat jams with a friend recording was a time to chill and talk about the music scene etc with todays quick fast downloads those moments are lost ...

Reading what you guys are saying about the iPod (can't get to the battery, built-in obsolescence, etc.) reminded me of a walkman review I read in a HiFi mag ages ago, that said something like:
"The Walkman. A cassette-recorder that doesn't record, & to hear playback you need earphones. It's also now a worldwide best seller. You've got to hand it to the marketing guys in Japan."
Marketing is a powerful thing. Just ask Steve Jobs... 

“Marketing is a powerful thing” like you say, especially as the vast majority of people for it. This is especially good for Apple and Steve Jobs as they plan obsolescence into their products. You’ve only got to look at their update cycle to see that they want you to buy new ones every 18 months to 3 years, good luck to them.

If you go back and look at the early Walkman, you can see they are built to last hence why we are all here still using them.  

The Ray Samuels stuff looks gorgeous.  That Mustang is portable--is there a rechargeable battery?  Can you replace it yourself or does it need to go back to the manufacturer?  I see his SR-71 uses a couple of 9-volts.

I can't find any photos of the insides of those things.  I'm intrigued to see what's going on in those...

Yes this amp looks amazing and its incredibly tiny, so I can only imagine how small the Shadow is. I am happy I got the P-51 Mustang as I think the Shadow would be just too small. Since I wear my Walkman on my belt, I will try and get a case made for the P-51 so I can wear it next to my Walkman.

Yes it does come with rechargeable lithium ion battery. 2 – 3 hours charge for 56 hours playback. It must be possible to change the battery yourself as long as you are good with a soldering iron, I am guessing the battery would have been soldered on.  I have not opened it you since I only got it yesterday.

I don’t think they still make the SR-71, they now make SR-71A.

P-51 Mustang with SR-71A for size