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In my humble opinion the hand made point to point soldering of the Cary products I’ve seen isn’t very good.

at least the cary has no flammable wool tuning elements.

I'm slow on the uptake. Is "Cary Audio standards" a good or a bad thing? P2P always looks like a bit of a clusterfuck to untrained eyes. "That's well done" and "What a complete and utter shitshow" aren't that visually different. Unless it's McAllister (or late stage Rotenberg) tier work.

^^ ha, that is what I was going to say - reminds me of my 300sei (then it went silent).

Would like to try.

Wow, that looks badly hand-made at the level of Cary Audio standards.

Found some more pics of the Viva STX which I'm okey borrrowing knowing how much this guy has taken from here. Seriously, this thing is so fucking bad. I think this might be the same unit as was posted before, very similar burn marks on that electrolytic cap... which is always a sign of quality. Rifa caps and all that but that switch floating on some hot glue. Yup... pure quality for only 12k$.

Does it taste any better closer to it's homeland?

I went on a deep dive through Jacob's photos on FB. These are some shots he took over the years that AFAIK he did not post here: The opposite focal point of this shot (where the gate is in focus and the house is OOF) would be interesting. I think the slight vignetting here is an artifact of the lens, not a software filter.

New Space doc dropped.

RIP Gene Shalit, who passed at the tender age of 100.

There is some amp porn included. Checking out the recent Vienna show. Lot more ribbon/electrostatic than I would have expected.

That is a great loss. RIP David Hockney.

Not sure if the best place to post, but WTH.... Some background, because I write too much: one of my favorite people in my work life lives in New Zealand. When I and others helped on an ERP project implementation, he sent us a wonderful thank you note, along with a down vest of the company and a polo shirt from the All Blacks team. I've always loved to see videos of Haka's and the like. Also was just a big sucker for and lover of the movie Whale Rider. This one hit in the feels a bit. A lovely tribute to Māori culture by a Grammar School chorus. Bit of the story behind it: https://www.themusicman.uk/maori-culture-choir-celebration/

RIP David Hockney at 88. Saw a massive retrospective in Paris last year that was impressive and improved my opinion of his work significantly, as if that matters.

After several tests, it seems Cora is improving. The biopsies have finally ruled out cancer, pointing instead to a very aggressive bacterium. After almost three weeks of antibiotics, she seems to be starting to be herself again.

Detroit pizza a bit further North in Michigan

Unholy carp!

I think I was being reminded of something I had previously been told. Repeatedly.

Viva Mexico!

Pardon My French by Eva Hummingbird (2026) https://open.qobuz.com/album/vecdu49h53cl8 Example: New to me - I really liked this series of vignettes by Eva, mostly violin based, but not strictly.

Yeah, I'm a 40-50mm shooter generally. Rarely go tighter, except some portraits (75, 105mm). Have been attempting to go wider (24-35mm) more over the last six or so months. Again these are nothing special, but I'm trying to "see wide".

^^ still one of the great soundtracks. Edit: This should be in the movie section - but thought I would drop it here.