Hi Richard, yes it came complete, twisted the end off and pushed it out, wetted it and replaced. Will do a ‘test’ later 
Barrie
Oooooh! Sounds painful Roger!! 
Barrie
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Years ago my car was zapping me dreadfully, as were the carpets at work. I feel your pain!
I was having to open the car door wide, then get out very carefully without touching any thing, and ground myself to the pavement with the car key.
Indoors I could zap people, ears were a good place, funny at first but the joke very quickly wore thin, and being responsible I managed to get some special spray for the carpets, since we were working on delicate electronics which would die if zapped.
I changed my shoes and the problem went away! It turned out the soles were super insulators with a high die-electric value so when I slid out across the car seat or scuffed my feet when walking I was charging them up. Lossy shoe soles and no zap.
For quite a while after that, and not as a joke, before allowing people to work on the electronics we Megga-ed their shoe soles. This was as well as having anti-static work stations and earthed wrist clips etc.
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Hi Richard.
Yes, I remember when in the mid '60’s our office was “modernised”, all metal furniture and nylon carpet, just walking turned you into a human dynamo! Not a pleasant state of affairs.
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I can imagine the modern over-the-top H&S paranoid-public-liability OCD enthusiasts in that place (if it still existed) nowadays putting PAT stickers on tested and approved footware…
I’m so glad I retired.
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Just listening to Nina Simone’s ‘I put a spell on you’ (amongst a lot of other female singers) and feel I’ve got a great set up now
I’ve temporarily unhooked the mono-blocks and now playing straight through the AIWA amplifier giving 40watts per channel, directly into a 2.1 speaker array. Not using that power though, volume knob set at less than a third. The Wharfedale Diamonds and the Roth subwoofer. Absolutely loving it! As my record collection is not that extensive, I’m listening to a Spotify playlist entitled Women of Jazz, phone audio EQ set to JAZZ, everything else set as neutral as possible. Missing the adapter I mentioned for utilising the Chord cobra 3 leads but that is winging its way to me as I type this I realise the source isn’t as good as it can be, but still sounds very nice!
Moved onto April Barrows ‘Lost in a blue note’ while typing! Some great songs on that list! 
Barrie
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Talking of static, as a young teenager growing up in Leeds, we had a rollerena, a rink for roller skating which was a great place to be, speed skating to ‘Red River Rock’ Johnny & the Hurricanes, if anyone remembers that tune? Anyway, when you came off the rink for a break, the static build up from the nylon carpets was phenomenal, the place was dimly lit around the periphery of the rink and sparks really did fly! 
Barrie
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“Red River Rock” by Johnny and the Hurricanes! Do I remember it? 
Yes, and not only that but I have my copy in my hand reading info from the label- London American Recordings 45-HL-8948 recording first published 1959. 
Bloomin’ 'eck that’s 61 years old! 
PS: There was a roller-rink in Ilford we used to go to (late '50’s/early '60’s) with a wooded floor and the rental skates had iron(?) wheels. The noise was like a continuous thunder storm!
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Ha! Roger, you’re a star! Wasn’t quite listening to the first pressing when I was skating
Doesn’t time fly though!
Nylon/rubber wheels for me!
Barrie
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Yes, I had my own, good quality ones, Jacoskates(?).
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These just arrived!
The adapters not the cables 
can get on with connecting it up now to the hi fi properly
Barrie
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Maybe it’s the time of year and dark nights, or the prospect of a very wet weekend, but my attention has turned back to my own system and my music collection.
I think maybe I’ve been on an inverse journey to Barrie because when I bought my mk3 two years ago I kind of lost interest in my system, but I’m running short of jobs on the car now and maybe the music system deserves some time and attention.
I have owned good hifi since my teens, progressing through to a naim / linn lp12 system with naim SBL speakers that I foolishly sold to buy a home cinema system, I never even watch films!!
I came back and worked through the arcam range ending up with bi amped arcam 10 amps, 8SE CDplayer and last year, B&W 601 speakers. Turntable is a mint and late Linn Axis. Cables are used QED or Chord.
Everything has been bought (or stolen in some cases) used and all in, including cables etc cost probably about a grand. Back in its (and my) heyday, it would have cost thousands. The sound is sublime, crystal clear with deep tight bass. My neighbour has a Nagra based system costing tens of thousands that whilst incredible sounding, isn’t fifty times better!
Here a couple of pics
I’ve bought music, vinyl or cd all my life since about ten years of age, I’ve always kept everything as it seems so personal to me. I now have Spotify but it’s not the same as a 70’s pink Floyd album, especially when beer is added to the mix:beer:
Here’s a selection
Anyways, keep the pics and story coming. Who knows it might get me back on the upgrade path myself, I do remember what fun it can be
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Morning Dave, a great post and contribution to this thread its really nice to hear other folks stories and the waxing and waning of their collections! Its just such a nice thing and often (as I do) you can put things on the back burner, then rekindle your interest, dust off the gear and really enjoy it all again. Long may it continue 
Barrie
Niiiiiiiice system Dave!
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Do those super-looking premium-quality cables really make much difference to the sound ?
Hi Chris. Yes they do provided you remember that your system is only as good as the worst component (That’s an adaptation of the old saying - “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”). I think that makes sense. So with Barrie’s set up he has some pretty good gear, but those cheapo cables would certainly detract from the system’s overall performance.
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Totally agree. Cables can make a difference, after all they are a filter with their own frequency response. What’s great now is the range of used cables available from people getting rid of separates systems. Buy them, try them and if no good resell them and get your money back.
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Hiya Chris, there’s quite a bit goes into those Chord cables. I’ve not normally ever had such nice cables, I’ve had ‘better’ than what came as standard with the AIWA stuff but these are a big leap forward. I’ve been playing with speaker positions this morning and coupled with the new Chord speaker cables and interconnects, I’ve had great fun indeed! An almost exhilarating experience you start to hear things you never noticed before and get better stereo effect than ever before! I guess there’s a law of diminishing returns as you get even more expensive versions but have to say, these Chord cables are brilliant! Obviously weren’t brand new but I snipped a cm or so off the ends of the speaker cables before fitting banana plugs as there was slight oxidisation to the bare wire ends, bringing them back to as new condition The wire strands are plated individually and then twisted into their final size and shape, really nicely made and definitely help the sound. Bell wire would transmit sound from the amp to the speakers but not in the same way.
Barrie
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I will obviously have to try some, to determine whether I can hear the improvement.
Thanks guys.
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