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Another Carbon in the works, I received my panels and drilled heatsinks back today. I haven’t put it together yet... I sure hope everything fits. Adobe Illustrator preliminary file:

We're kind of lucky in that regard. The smart systems at Barclaycard Visa spot potentially fraudulent activity within seconds, and either phone or text you to confirm a number of transactions. I gave one Visa lady pause for thought when she called to verify transactions. There is a company that sells high end navigation gear called Shaven Raspberry https://shavenraspberry.com/ . Of course with a name like that it could be anything, and the Visa lady clearly thought the worst "and a transaction for X from, er, Shaven, er, er" "Raspberry" I said. The relief when she got onto asking the next transaction was obvious!

I don't blame her, I wouldn't wanna know about your raspberry shaving habits either if I didn't have to.

Peach cobbler that Lily and I made the other night.

Well, I've always had a thing for smooth fruits myself.

I’ve used something similar with one of my headphones for a while now. It’s been OK. Yes, it’s not double insulated and it’s not as soft as the Koss cable.

They told me to stay away from Eurorack. Probably right. But. This. Is. Head. Case. What's better than overkill? Gigakill. https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1656497 https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1656633 https://www.modulargrid.net/u/racks/view/1656639 And I'm already out of rack space.

Nanci Griffith - Other Voices, Other Rooms

Daughter concert

Bonus points for that is totally West Marin unless I miss my guess? @Voltron @TMoney @Grahame @swt61

Love me some War On Drugs. New album!

Brian Jackson (Muhammad & Younge) Jazz is Dead 8 https://www.newyorker.com/culture/listening-booth/an-undersung-master-of-jazz-gets-his-day

This seems like it's perfect for Head-Case—an electrostatic headphone tuned like the HD650: https://www.audeze.com/products/crbn

my Long weekend starts here, lunch.

Completely agree that it's never quite the same, but in my case, I don't care -- I love chicken, I love Nando's sauce, so it's still better than just about anything else I'll make, and it's super easy. I agree that part of it is the char that they get with the open grill, as mine has zero char, baking in an oven. Not sure about the difference in recipes -- I think they just have the whole "time to marinate"/"time to grill" thing down to perfection, which I don't by a long shot. When I did what I described above, it came out...fine. I'm not a magician with chicken, that my chicken comes out perfectly moist, perfectly done -- but no more! -- &c., but it was good enough, and not chewy or rubbery. But that's why I still occasionally eat out -- to reset my palate.

Thanks Mikey! I like this too.

i had nandos twice this weekend

Those look great and reminded me to post this, a possible cable for DIY electrostatics: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002121174291.html?spm=a2g0s.12269583.0.0.67082dbcJ5CL0I I just got some but have as of yet not done HV tests on it or anything but it's nice and supple, if a bit thin. Well worth a punt and reminds me of the Koss wire but not double insulated.

Compared two DACes today, the trusty old Lavry DA11 (via USB from my laptop running from battery, cheap power cables and interconnect) against a Lumin X1 network player. Level matched (that took a while and very annoying if you have to change the volume for a different track), connected to a switch -> SRM-T1S CCS + ECC99 -> SR-009 / SR-Lambda (also speakers, time was unfortunately very limited) Never compared sources like this before, heard the systems indirectly, and my preconceptions turned out to be either false (like soundstaging), or way less than expected. The DA11 had more, slightly looser bass. The midrange seemed slightly more laid-back, giving the impression of very slightly less clarity (some described it as "slightly old-school"). Having that 'bass boost on' felt more synergistic (I also find the internal crossfeed being useful sometimes), although the Lumin had a slightly firmer, tighter presentation. In the grand scheme of things, I struggled to find big faults with either, it felt I could just enjoy music without fatigue (well, maybe not true for the SR-009 after a while), and I was quite shocked when I found out the difference in price. And maybe the DA11 can improve with a decent PSU as well. Next time I might just try again to see if I notice some more stuff, congestion, etc. and I might test my amp directly against the CCS ECC99 modded version, that should be super easy (though it needs a few hours of warming up...) DA11+T1S+NB Lambda for under 2000$ all-in (maybe with the CCS mod squeezed in) seems quite unbeatable value to be honest, if focusing on the music itself is the most important thing rather than all those technicalities where it might be lacking. Chief among which is precious little bass texture to speak of, piano lacking in weight also, less speed, etc. The imaging or that final 10-20% detail and extension at the extremes, slight congestion really doesn't bother me, the sound is already very clear, open, quite balanced and extended with stunning seductive mids, that's more than enough for me. On the other hand, if I owned a pair of SR-009s, I would probably try a "heavy-handed" approach, like a Smyth Realiser or a custom EQ besides an amp upgrade, as I felt that a warmer source didn't really change much about the overall character. outro: back at base to finish off Schubert's Symphonies. Even with the stock amp with looser (but yet even warmer) bass, the sound is still wonderful, I only remember the HE90s having that sense of undisturbed connection with the mids (and with more dynamics to boot, I can't care with the technical flaws). Switching to the SR-Omega, phenomenal resolution and imaging, bass cleans up massively, a very nuanced presentation, totally relaxing, flows beautifully. However, it's almost as if all that extra information makes the midrange a bit distant, veiled and disconnected at times. I mean, it's not half bad, maybe it is just showing the Lavry as a "boring" source or whatever, but...as weird as it may sound, it looks to me that all these Omegas, need some work one way or another to reach up to that level of musicality that an SR-Lambda can deliver by default, always, no questions asked.

Finish a new pair of electrostatic headphones today.

I've found the culprit. A tiny solder blob which seems to have landed out of nowhere was shorting two solder points in the CCS module's PCB. Removed it, resoldered the module to the unit's PCB... and presto! Left-channel voltages back to normal! Phew! Rebiasing with the stock tubes took a couple of hours (3-4 rebiasing sessions with about one hour in between to wait for the tubes to drift). I'll wait a couple of months to see if it's worth it to start tube rolling. In the meantime... Currently testing my SR-007A with the newly recapped and CCS-modded SRM-T1S. Amazing! It seems a straitjacket was removed from the cans! The CCS mod really makes a difference.

Note, photos of Airbnb houses can be deceiving, not the "beach front trendy bungalow" I was expecting.

I broke my foot and sprained my ankle badly doing swing dancing in late May. I finally feel healthy and fit, so HEMA today and judo Tuesday, and maybe Jeet on Thursday. I’m sure I could have done this already but I can do push-ups without pain today. That was a sort of my threshold.

nandos

No, you make some great points. I completely agree with most of what you have to say. Besides, I've always had a soft spot for pricks.

And I'm being a pedantic prick so ignore me 😀 Regarding "progress..." If electrostats were really old these days, maybe some of these new planars and dynamics that came around as a result of this progress would actually sound better than the old electrostats. But that hasn't been the case in my experience. IMO this progress malarkey is just another FOTM, with the big revelation being - drumroll please - that "neutral" doesn't mean "bright as fuck!" Wow, we've come so far! But, seeing more electrostatics, or cool new things like RAAL - and they've got a new circumaural headphone announced too - is actually interesting, and the more good headphones out there, the better. Besides somebody needs to light a fire under Stax's ass and what better way than actual competition. Maybe this way they'll stop making headphones with headbands that crack, ergonomics not designed for human heads, amps that are defective by design, or tuning that's best served as an advertisement for EQ plugins. And if not, well other people will make stats too.

Thanks, Kevin! So, it should not be moved off that Avid heatsink? I thought about mounting it downward facing and sticking it to the main amp's heatsink, same as the other sands (I would not be using brackets but mounting them directly on the heatsinks on the amp sides).

Or you could use Molex Spox connectors instead of terminal blocks in those LV positions.

31.26 miles in 1:31:52 with 1109ft of elevation. When did you get a Class 1 Ebike?

Decided to put in some speed work this morning since I was up at the crack of dawn seeing half the house off for a weekend (or more) of baseball in CT. Weather was pretty much perfect, warmish , no sun, virtually no wind.

I'm a "friend of Dorothy's" in the most literal way. Breakfast at the Hummingbird Cafe, with Dorothy, Neice of D.O.T.U. Fried chicken hash.

BLTA

The usual insane Red Bull stuff

McVitie's Chocolate Digestive (Biscuit) Thanks to another Brit at a Piper Park picnic

It was a small batch made customized. The factory did everything for me. ps. I have some spare.

After seeing Ric's post in the Listening thread.. I then discovered. RIP - Nanci Griffith, died on the 6th, but was not announced until today. Left us a lot of good music.

Checked my online banking this morning to find a couple fraudulent charges on my debit card. 😒 Called my bank as soon as customer service hours started, and got a dispute filed and new card issued with a five minute phone call. So at least that part was painless.