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Head-case will be undergoing maintenance starting at ~8PM eastern on Saturday September 23, 2023. This work is expected to take a couple of hours and the site will be in maintenance mode or offline during various parts of the maintenance.

here is a link to simmcon's takedown of the eha5. its mandatory reading for everyone. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-eha5.42149/post-1712440 in other news, birgir sent me a srd7 to test. in other other news, i have finally found a company that will sell me cores and bobbins in small quantities. so making electrostatic transformers becomes a possibility.

Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend, the wifi at the house could basically support one device at a time. Short version, the ride was great. Continue on for TLDR... The day started with overcast skies, temps in the mid 70s which was pretty ideal. We met Kelly (left above) and Edie (KBF Executive Director) at the starting line for a quick pick after the main pack rolled out around 7:30. We weren't particularly worried about riding with any other groups/folks. The first 25 miles or so passed without much incident, one guy got a flat which was quickly changed with a little help from the ride support crew and then the five of us riding the 100 split off to take the longer way home. Through the next 20 miles temps and the weather continued to be on our side. As we passed through 50 miles the sun came out with a vengeance. What had been simply a warm, very humid day turned into a hot and steamy one fast. But sunscreen was applied and much fluid consumed (I think I drank between 8-10 22oz bottles on the day) and with the exception of my friend Jim who cramped and had to call in the sag wagon at 85 miles, we all survived in tolerable shape. Much fun was had, much money was raised. Our little 9 person team ended up raising a bit over $25k and the event topped the million dollar mark on the day of the ride. I spent a significant amount of time on the front along with my friend Gus as we'd both logged considerably more training miles than the others. All in all, I just can't say thank you to all of you that continue to support me and this event. The foundation does some truly amazing work and changes lives every time that they do.

It looks like they got the fire out. Nobody hurt, no loss of property. My Mother may even be able to sleep in her own bed tonight. I'm hopeful this was the final hit, but still half way expecting a call between now and Tuesday, about an earthquake, lotus swarm or the Black Plague.

I'm safe and good, and as per the official statement "we continue with our mission to deliver best-in-class headphones to recording professionals, audiophiles, and gamers."

This has been completed now, if you come across any problems post them here.

After a quick trip to get a sheet of 1/4" MDF, and I was off and running. She hasn't seen the results yet. I'm thinking she'll be happy. The painter will paint them in... School Blazer Blue Oh, and I got a nice spiral upcut bit out of it. Win!

Slapped together a console for a friends business.

i posted this elsewhere. here is a copy Its all about size (as in core cross sectional area) and maximum flux before saturation. its obvious from the graphs above (posted elsewhere) that the core saturation of the eha5 transformer is about 1.4 tesla indicating the cheapest of core materials. better and much bigger transformers are available from lundahl and edcor. which will both give 20hz to 20khz +0 -1 db and will actually do 1800vpp with a 50 watt amplifier over the full frequency band. without series resistors. without filters. as far as i can tell lundahl does not specify maximum field strength. edcor does and its 2.01 tesla. there are custom c cores with magic materials that can do up to 2.5 tesla. these are a bit expensive. the ll1630 mentioned above (posted elsewhere) will NOT do this. core size is too small. you need a transformer with a minimum of a 30 watt core. The 60 watt edcor are MUCH better. the ifi iesl which is extremely sensitive to power amplifiers is yet another example of a poor design with a tiny transformer. does not matter how carefully you wind the core if you drive the transformer into saturation. the result will be a box about 3 times the size of the eha5. and a weight of about 20 lbs. cost about $600. nope, no cheap way of doing this.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes everyone. This one (60) hits hard, and is a bit surreal, actually. So, of course I went to see a tribute band for The Smiths last night, & felt young again for a few hours:

Recent update. My Mother has been in and out of the hospital lately because of her APhib, which also sets off her COPD. My Brother and I have been trying hard to get her to go live with him and his wife. They have room and time, since they're both retired now. His wife loves my Mom and has been trying to talk her down that path. My Mother can be stubborn, and is hell bent on paying off the portion she financed on her recent trailer purchase. My Aunt (who lives nearby) has offered to store the trailer on her property. So finally my Mother has realized that life would not only be easier, but more enjoyable. Her husband has become verbally unkind. He's just turned into an irresponsible, grumpy old man. I believe he is at the begging stages of dementia. So my Brother and his wife are driving from Arizona to Texas to get her on the 17th. She won't go before that, because her husband's only Daughter (who he's never had much interaction with) can't get there until the 16th to take him back to Alaska to live with her, because of an already scheduled vacation. She's a really wonderful person, and I've filled her in on what to expect. She says she feels obligated, even though he's basically ignored her from age 5. My Mother says that she'll tripple up her trailer payments, since she'll no longer have any bills to speak of. She wants to gift the trailer to me, once it's payed off. So I'll pick it up and use it upon retirement in a little over 4 years. I'm thrilled that she will be in a house filled with love for whatever time she has left. And she'll only be seven hours away for weekend visits.

Went with the cheap AT table. She asked me if she could only put one speaker in her room and figured anything more was overkill 🤦‍♂️

Madison, Wisconsin

Yesterdays smoked pork belly burnt ends. Smoked ribs from a few days ago. Smoked ribs from a c

First time back at SF Jazz since the pandemic tonight and it was too see the Joshua Redman quartet with Gabrielle Cavassa performing songs from his first Blue Note release. They played all but two of the tracks (New England and New Orleans), and he called an audible and added a non album version of Hotel California. I love the band but I don't love her singing style all of the time. Very affected and jazzy stylized. I love the Count Basie / Sufjan Steven's mash-up in Chicago. I haven't listened to the album yet but certainly will soon.

Joanne made some apple cinnamon muffins, so I'm having one with a nice cup of tea for elevenses.

"Remain Indoors" Halibut Risotto

This could be a 70s album sung by a 30-40 year old, but it's a 2023 album sung by a 20 something with rich lyrics and a sweet voice. A little Orbison Sounding.

There is little left for my next adventure:

For Dusty Very fun

My Brother and his wife have already set up her room with a new mattress and everything she'll want or need. He also had his Daughter set up a system to stream audio books for her. She can still read if she enlarges the font on her Kindle, but her eyes are deteriorating and won't improve. She's never had much interest in TV, but has always been a voracious reader. She hasn't been able to see well enough to safely cook for sometime now, so home cooked meals will be fully enjoyed by her. Just a great and happy situation for a Mother that would always step in front of my physically abusive Father, when he went way too far on his boys. She deserves this and way, way more. Even if she doesn't want to burden her children. And I fully believe that a situation that will promote better mental health can only have a positive effect on her physical health. Her Doctor thinks she has a matter of months left. That may or may not be true, but whatever time she has left absolutely needs to be happy time.

#BlameCanada ?

IN this series, THD+N versus frequency, 20 Hz - 20 kHz. At the equivalent of 100 dB SPL (100 V RMS). THD Is Very very even all the way from 20-20k. at about 0.2% THD. In this series, the THD+N at 110 dB SPL is actually LESS than at 100 equivalent dB SPL, telling us that the measurement mostly consists of noise, not THD. That's all the Carbon measurements I have on hand.

And now a little color with the 907x 50c

Went to a lowrider show this weekend at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga. Took a couple cameras to snap away. First up monochrome with the new to me M9M

I did a quarter century (just under) in honor of your ride prep. Considering a half century before leaving Michigan soon. Congrat on beating your goal!

Diet Coke and The Beach Boys 5th row center, but the bloody chairs were aligned wrong to the stage, so it was just a hair left of center, but still, not too shabby. The Beach Boys obviously had to give it up to the greatest Beach Boy, Sir Uncle Jesse. Sadly, he wasn't there this day, but they're playing Vegas in a couple weeks, and I wouldn't be surprised... The Beach Boys covering The Ramones - Rockaway Beach Rockaway Beach - The Beach Boys covering The Ramones.mp4

The rock history podcast I listen to just had an episode on the Band and "The Weight." What a great goddamn song. Have heard it a million times and I could hear it a million more before I get sick of it. RIP Robbie, btw. https://500songs.com/podcast/episode-167-the-weight-by-the-band/ One of my favorite versions of it is on Before the Flood. Killer live album front to back.

I've been going through scans of film exposures I took in '06-09. I had very mixed results. For reasons still unclear to me, I had massive beginner's luck with Kodak BW400CN and Fuji Velvia 50, followed by some just awful photos (largely due to bad processing I think.) I experienced hugely mixed results with Kodak Gold 200, which is to say I did quite well with a meh film stock. I also had a lot of fun with a couple trash cams. One I bought at a dollar store in 2006: Shown here last week (taken with my new 5D IV and 85/1.8). I actually had two of these IIRC. A black one and this blue one. Both have crappy plastic 35mm F/11 lenses and lots of light leaks. I got rid of the black one at some point, because one dollar store camera is arguably too many. I also had (and still have) a Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim: Seen here in the summer of '08. It's got a 28mm F/22 lens and considerable better build quality than the $1 camera. It's still a plastic toy, but it's a damn Leica by comparison. I put 3 rolls of film through the $1 camera(s), and one through the Vivitar. I had mixed results with both. At the time, I only uploaded a handful of photos from each roll. Revisiting the scans I'm much more forgiving of bad shots now. My relaxed attitude is for a host of reasons not the least of which is the fact that's been 15 years. Below are only newly uploaded photos. I might go over some ones I liked back in '08 later. The family cottage on MV, taken with the $1 camer and Kodak Gold 200 in November of '06. I really like this shot, and not just because the cottage has been torn down for over a dozen years now. The $1 camera managed to do organically what all the Hipstamatic type cameraphone apps attempt to recreate. The hill across the street from my house on MV, November '06. This shot has been hugely popular on Flickr and I'm not entirely sure why. The truth is that it was a cold November day, but not nearly as bleak looking as the $1 camera and Kodak Gold made it out to be. Pointing a cheap plastic camera with an F/11 lens and fixed 1/30th shutter at the setting sun is a dumb idea. This is a terribly exposed shot, but the car with is headlights on makes the image for me. I get a strong 70s horror movie aesthetic from it. My yard on the mainland, October '06. Six years before I had a bunch of trees cut down. That's an authentic $1 camera light leak on the side there. The view from my back yard on MV, April 07. $1 camera and Kodak Gold engaging in some impressive synergy here. Another shot of my back yard, very similar to the one above. Most of those trees are gone now. What these two shots illustrate is that lighting is the single most important part of photography. Also water is wet, and I strongly suspect it rolls downhill. Edgartown Harbor with Chappaquiddick in the background. That's the famous Mad Max catamaran sailing along, which is something I only just down figured out. My mother had a good friend on MV for many years named Ruth. She was an Austrian, born in 1924. Ruth had done a great many things including being a skilled sailor. She spent her last years owning a farm on Chappaquiddick (Chappy is not that big and there are not many farms on it.) Ruth took a very dim view of Mad Max precisely because it was a catamaran. The first shot I ever took with my Canon EF 17-40mm F/4L, 7/23/08 - 5:58PM (by that point I'd learned to take mostly complete notes on time and exposure.) I had the 17-40 attached to my Rebel K2 loaded with Fuji Superia X-Tra ISO 800 bleh print film. Not a very interesting shot, but it was my first time using the 17-40 on a full frame format. None of the photos I've posted so far had any edits to them, except for this one. The colors were too washed out and the contrast was just awful, so I relented and did a slightly cleanup in Photoshop. $1 camera and Kodak Gold, October '06. In this case, the cheap plastic lens made the image look cheery and nostalgic and less like a horror movie. I have ...a lot more print exposures that I've gone through. Next time: A cheap fisheye adapter a friend lent me attached to a mid 1950s 50mm prime, further evidence that 35mm F/2 is my favorite lens and maybe some terrible B&W shots. Also maybe some current stuff taken with the 5D IV.

New fire season, new air (purifier) filters. The old one's definitely worked, and did their job.

Live album from the Rumors tour in '77. Pretty solid! I think Lindsay's guitar and Mic's drums sound great. The complex vocal harmonies do suffer a bit in a live setting though. Chris McVie's voice can get lost in the mix at times. https://music.apple.com/us/album/rumours-live/1696829962

You're the One Rhiannon Giddens 2023 https://album.link/i/1683236541 Example: Continually impressed with Rhiannon. Her ability to adapt to different styles and to do them all so well is amazing to me. This is an album full of solid songs. Each one has purpose and grounding. They were not just going into the studio and see what happens. It is choreographed and executed at a high level.

BTW, the voices in that video are my Cousin and her Son. No mistaking their Texas roots! They both have done so much for my Mother. I need to come up with a way to thank them!

Ciao Novato! Opera at the Hamilton Amphitheater. We arrived early to secure a place in the shade at the Amphitheater during set up / sound check There was added drama, as their headlining baritone Richard Rittelmann was flying in from Paris that day, had been delayed in customs, was hiring a car, and was in the process of driving up, so would he make it for the big performance or not? In the meantime, they rearranged the program on the fly, and apart from a few teething troubles with their wireless sound system put on quite a show. Richard arrived And delivered. Thanks Novato. Back/Side-Stage with the stars (note the Ross goodie bag!)

^^ intersting - sampled a few tracks, didn't catch me to start with, but intrested to check it out futher. Catching up.. Comin' Home Baby Mel Tormé 1962 https://album.link/i/59401055 Example: A fun Album by Mel, with the example being a highlight. Need to have some more Mel in my world. Samara Joy Samara Joy 2021 https://album.link/i/1616970429 Example: Such a lovely voice with dynamics and power. Very well recorded set of mostly standards. Meteora 20th Anniversary Edition Linkin Park 2023 https://album.link/i/1668484895 Example: Worthy of revisiting. A well recorded album that is layered really well and is able to hit hard when it wants to. I didn't need all the live versions, but I enjoyed listening to the album again. There are a few other things, but those are some highlights.

Did 40 miles today with lunch in the middle. Not sure 60 more would feel great. 😳

My heart was weak...

a few years ago I was on some Zoom calls with another company that wanted to make a cheap electrostatic amp. 5 guys on a Zoom call. they expected to sell thousands. To who and for what headphones?? the whole thing won't cover the salary of 1 person. sometimes I'm not sure people grasp the size of this market

We're fast approaching a point where it will impossible, even for those in the know, to differentiate between AI generated gobbledygook and genuine audiophool purple prose.

so here are some more pictures, obviously faked. This is the kgsshv-carbon built by birgir and given to tyll as one of his 2 reference amps. Into a standard 120pf load. right at the limit of my scope probe, have to find the higher voltage probes. first picture 20 volts per division, next 2 are 50 volts per division. all are 10khz square wave. reference cap beginning to bubble due to heat.

Thanks, Al, #NFLO. Got in a solid training ride yesterday with two of the other guys. We ripped the first hour at 21mph and then decided to chill the heck out.

Forgot to take pics of the rest of our lunch but corn nuts and tempura fried zucchini with blue cheese tomato fonduta (sauce) and pea shoots were a very good start.

Saw an IG clip today in sorrow for all the fan fathers out there. Not only did they have to buy expensive tickets for their daughters, but for the rest of their lives, when asked, they have to say their favorite concert was Taylor Swift.

Obligatory,

A decadent burger with a confit of pork belly and aged cheddar. I won't live forever... HS

Said me to a twink NEVER! 😘

Maybe this is how it went down?