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We had a meet yesterday here in Houston. Great time and I got to listen to some fun setups. MrSpeakers had sent their Ether E prototypes so I brought my KGSSHV Carbon along as I'd read they require mo' power. My chain was 44/16 FLAC files via DEEZER Elite or via iTunes on my MacAir using BitPerfect > Ygg DAC > Carbon. Those that posted that the Ether's are power hungry were not kidding. The Carbon is a beast (thanks George) and uses the GR HV psu with 680uf 500v rated caps and a DACT stepper...it's a GREAT amp and absolutely makes my 007A's sing (thank you for awesome designs Kevin). Anyhow, I had to turn the knob to say 2 o'clock to get the Ether's to really make music and, as a reference, the 007A's were screaming loud at that point. The L300's there and a nice pair of 404 Signatures were really screaming at that volume level. The prototypes clearly need more work, which I figure is to be expected. If you're sitting next to someone using them, it's like you've got an old school radio playing...they bleed that much sound. Also, the micro details and that holographic instrument separation and placement are not there compared to the Stax. I expected them to hit harder down low given what a gent had told me, but with the Carbon the 007A's bass was deeper, more present and impactful IMO. The Ether's are more treble and upper mid's forward. A bit sparkly for me, but not terrible. I like the 007A's because they are what they are and I don't do peaky upper's too well anymore...getting old. Overall, fun to listen to as I like getting to play with prototype stuff, but a long way from competing with mid to upper tier Stax equipment. They are going to need one hell of an amp unless they make them more efficient. On a side note, I got to listen to some Canned Heat out of a Stax 006t with NOS tubes powering a pair of 404 Signatures and was pretty darn impressed with that rig. Great value for $ IMO. The L300's were fun, but a bit to bright for me and definitely light on the lower mids and bass front. HS

Life is good. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Carbon in a DIY T2 looking chassis - really nice.

wild alaskan sockeye

Drove to Danville pa to check out a potential location change. I liked it a lot but it made me like oak ridge even more.

Breakfast was pretty damn tasty. Eggs benedict on biscuits with ham and Yukon gold smashed potatoes.

Jalapeño burger with sweet potato tater tots. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

KSIA are strange and brilliant.

This is a pro bias to normal bias adapter I cobbled together. It's a self bias circuit that taps R+ and gets chassis ground through an RCA plug to the amp. Just to prove the point of how easily one can build a stax compatible jack I rigged this one together with some female XLR pins, hot glue and a piece of delrin. Take that Mr.Speakers!

Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts

I honestly think some of them are deaf, but some of them have fuzz and distortion tones to die for. Ain't nuthin' shitty about it. Cases in point, Leaves' Eyes and Gojira. But even someone that everyone looks up to, like Iommi -- he can make a range-limited telephonic tone sound great in the right context.

it's not that they don't care, they like shitty and harsh

Cappadocia, Central Anatolia, Turkey. "Indian Sunrise" Mount St. Helens in Washington State. Reykjavik sunset. Wall Street on D-Day, June 6th 1944. Soldiers advancing through morning mist at the Battle of Somme, July 1, 1916. Garderner Cart at Humayun's Tomb. Click for slightly larger.

Not sure I am winning the war against the grass. Not sure how much it matters though. And because July rocks....

Made it onto the island before it reached capacity, Then fireworks Followed by an introduction to a bearded dragon

This is the Neely influence I think. He wants the toughness but still some talent. Management still wants to Bruins to be somewhat Blue Collar, because they've been pushed around a bit too much by others. Hoping there's no NMC for Backes, because if not in theory he could be exposed in expansion drafts after next year for LV, or in another 1-2 when another team potentially comes in. BTW, same with Anton Khudobin, though he's at cheaper money and a better stopgap. And many Bruins fan are basically OK with this deal for the short term, as it will still take time for the prospects to come up. A mix of folks would would have preferred Loui Erikkson stay at that same $6M, even if for 1 more year (and Loui's younger). But his injury history is tough....so I'm half and half on the overall deal. I like Backes, but going UFA means paying a lot, especially when a player has a good year and/or playoff run (and his playoff performance was great). Similar things can be said of a few of the UFA signings, like Milan Lucic and Andrew Ladd. 7 year deals @ $6M and $5.5M respecively, and expected to be somewhat albatross contracts at some point.... I wish the Bruins were allowed to FULLY re-tool to some extent, and not be JUST good enough to make or come close to playoffs but go nowhere..... Bah....I'm rambling. Just hope they can do SOMETHING better on Defense.

I changed the LT1021-5 for LT1021-10. Now, psu it´s fine. HV: 402,5 volt. / -401,5 volt Bias, 578 volt. LV: 15,4 volt/ -15,1 volt. Thanks

Steak Caesar with black forest bacon

Pork chilli verde - currently at the stage of roasting the veggies. The pork will come via leftovers from last week's carnitas.

Stuffed flank steak -- just Swiss cheese and some herbs for Alden and feta and spinach for Claire and me. Pretty tasty

Not really cooking, but guac and pico to go Waugh the chicken that's about to hit the grill for fajitas. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk