Pilkington glass is totally available. at least in the USA . maybe they just don’t want to supply smaller quantities ? https://shop.pilkington.com
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Nor did I ever suggest Pete or anyone else should get into streaming. It’s the phrase “beats to a pulp” I was reacting to. As it happens I’ve also compared the CD5xs direct into the N50 with digital out to the Qutest and then the N50, so no streaming involved and my conclusion on preference remains: it depends on what I’m listening to and what mood I’m in as to which I prefer.
I can understand that taste in Asgard might reasonably be taken as applying to the whole world but that’s not necessarily true for the rest of us. 
(Mere mortal) Roger
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@70sPete Hey Pete did you see these JBL Summit AMA ? WOW!
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That’s where we differ. I’m no mere mortal - if I do say so myself. 
Apologies for that. Try this - ‘cr*ps all over it’.
Yes they look like fantastic speakers. A little beyond my price range I’m afraid!
My dream system at this point would be a new high end Naim CD player (which doesn’t exist) into a 552/500 and a pair of big JBL horn loaded speakers. That would really rock!
Yes it would !
Having worked with Japanese companies that were inwardly investing in the UK , 
I admired their long term thinking.
I will say no more in order to protect Richard’s blood pressure
Pilkington appear to be still be around but it does appear that they have been closing various older sites and facilities in the UK, which may well have impacted Fraim glass supply.
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I restore/repair traditional sash windows and my glass supplier has moved away from Pilkington and now routinely supplies glass from Saint-Gobain, a French multinational.
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My entire house recently got that Saint Gobain glass. Excellent stuff. Perhaps I should ask them to cut me some glass shelves for Hifi.
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I’ve never owned Fraim, so can’t comment on the sound quality of the Pilkington glass, but getting a glass supplier to fabricate a replacement shelf of suitable dimensions and bevelling/polishing the edges isn’t too difficult or expensive.
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Pilkington do seem to be “under siege” from foreign glass suppliers.
Last summer the heated front screen of my Land Rover Discovery was damaged. On contacting my insurers i was re-directed to their preferred glass replacement company. A discussion then ensued as i enquired as to the manufacturer of the new windscreen they were going to fit, it was some Chinese company. The original Land Rover branded glass was made by Pilkington. Word on the Land Rover forums was that the cheap Chinese windscreens often had faulty heating arrays. In a 3 way discussion with me, glass fitters and insurance company i was insisting that I did not want a Chinese screen, we did agree a compromise and they fitted a Pilkington branded heated screen, cheaper than a Land Rover branded screen but effectively the same thing. After the insurer left the call, the screen fitter commented that he was surprised the insurer agreed to the Pilkington screen, and stated that 95% of the glass that they fitted these days came from China.
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I have had exactly the same experience, 5 months circular argy bargy between the insurer, their ‘preferred’ replacement screen fitters and myself to get the correct screen fitted.
Given that the windscreen in most current/new vehicles is a structural component, fitting cheap alternatives may be both dangerous and breach the insurer’s exclusion clause regarding modifications to the standard vehicle………
Apologies, definitely thread drift.
ATB, J
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Your mortality is noted. Asgaard is fortunate in having a wider perspective.
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Mortal; yes. Mere; no. Obvious to those who value silver discs.
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The palace is glazed entirely with Pilkington. Maybe I could try sticking kit to the windows?