A rare talk with Jim Bookhard

Hi TuneLand,

Jim Bookhard, who you know I think is the greatest writer and most helpful person in the history of listening, has allowed me to do a rare interview with him, "short & sweet."

Enjoy Exclamation



What’s old and what’s new?

"Nothing is really new except a change back to the use of a different preamp, back to using the MA-700's, and choice of transfer devices. I'm back to using the MGD preamp you modified for me. It gives me more flexibility and the system is "dead" silent with it -- not a "peep" out of the speakers when the system is at "rest.". I went back to MTDs underneath just about everything with springs only for top tuning my amps, my analog tuner and its remote control box. Plus, I added a new "wrinkle" to top tuning my preamp and DVD player. The preamp uses the 1 1/2" tall MTDs.

I had to just let the platforms and racks "cure" for the past eight months and the magic from my system is back to where I want it."

How much listening have you been doing?

"Actually very, very little Exclamation I even turned the entire system off for about 3 months and just let the wood cure. I just bided my time and let the platforms and rack woods cure themselves and it took 8 months for the system to sound like I wanted it to. As the seasons changed and weather did its thing, I tuned everything to see where the system was headed, but it took the whole 8 months for the wood to cure properly. I just recently retuned the entire system from the wall outlet to the acoustics, to the racks, to the platforms to the speakers, etc."

What changes did you make to your system?

"The changes I made are noted in my answer to your first question. They may seem minor, but they have produced big results for me."