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More progress, it’s been a while since I tested one of these, I used Soren’s adjustment method for the CCS which worked well, dialled in for 19mA

Just picked up Lance at LAX returning from his short visit with friends in Italy. He comes bearing gifts- Note one was lost to the assholes in customs and their sloppy methods of inspecting luggage for weapons, human trafficking and drugs.

When all you have is a RSA Predator?

Since they haven't built a strip club next to the Gaylord yet, it's a no for me. Right or wrong I've apparently put my life on hold the last 16 months. I can hang on a little longer. Maybe I can start planning Red Neck Jam.

I called the vet and the determination is that as long as he doesn’t seem to be in discomfort he is fine.

Some super cool engineering going on here https://youtu.be/HR5oCVDta-w?t=462

It was mostly the micro details, micro dynamics,coherance with busy passages and tone. I remember specially on the track James Blake - The Willhelm Scream, to be really surprised by the way it rendered all those small details popping, the separation, depth and keeping track of everything so well. With the terminator really didn't get the hype, though it was too soft without the same lvl of microdynamics and digging low level detail as the Yggy. The second best was the La voce, really really open soundstage but felt less detailed, still very enjoyable.

Angel Olsen's new ep of electro-drone covers of 80's songs. I like it.....

Recoated the diaphragm, reassembled and the issue persisted. Took apart the headphone plug and found the hose clamp shorting all 5 outer pins. Even without the hose clamp, all 3 wires to one ear are shorted together. Wired the driver straight to the energiser board and, sure enough, it sounds wonderful! Time to make a nice replacement cable. The old driver sounds noticeably worse than the one I re-coated, so still a massive thanks to spritzer for the tip. Pissed off that I ignored that 1) troubleshoot the easiest and most obvious bits first; and 2) electronics is the science of contacts (as the old Russian saying goes).

Still don't think it is a good idea.

I think I know who that was. And it is not someone on this list or associated with it. I mentioned the 2sk208-GR to him by email, and he told me he had previously bought 3,000 of them, before I even mailed him. By the way, TI have just introduced a low-noise n-channel JFET, the JFE150 (0.8nV/root Hz, and 1/f corner at 10Hz) https://www.ti.com/product/JFE150 . Apparently this is just the first in a series they are planning, with n-channel monolithic duals (apparently imminent), and possible p-channel versions. They are quite serious about the audio market, with a superb and growing portfolio of audio op-amps. Unlike On-Semi; don't start me on that soap box....

That is good news! Our ancient 18 year old has got to the stage that she is losing teeth - a bit like ancient humans. That sort of thing seems to completely un-faze animals. They have a bewildering ability to just get on with life.

RIP Chuck Close. As a kid, I only saw his work in books. Then I saw one hanging at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. "Wow, now I get it."

Little Victories Robby Marshall - w/Anthony Winzenrieth, Sylvain Dubrez, Nicolas Grupp 2019 Example:

Biscuit History Lemonade

Interesting, but for four grand curiosity ain't killin no cat. I'd love to hear them in person at a meet if those ever happen again.

Getting ready for a trip tomorrow. That wine carrier will have 4 bottles. I don’t have the beer cooler fitted out yet.

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:

Yeah, I dropped Lost almost immediately, but Leftovers and Watchmen will have me following Lindelof for awhile.

All the T2 amp boards are a single monolithic slab (except the version I modified). The non shrunk versions are more than 400mm deep and will not fit into most diy chassis like the disapante 400mm. Also they have solder pads for a very expensive and now not easily available volume pot. Original T2 uses almost completely obsolete transistors which are both very very expensive (if you can even find them) and almost all the sellers e.g. ebay etc are selling fake parts anyway. t2schem.PDF So if you have not got the transistors already from known good sources you are looking at probably looking at 10-30+ dollars PER transistor and there are a lot of transistors.... The original T2 amp board was massive... too large to fit into a 400mm deep case! so there was also various attempts to make it smaller: t2shrunk.zip Hence the number of different T2 gerber zip files. I would very roughly guestimate budget $1000 just for the transistors for the amp board. If you make a build error and the magic smoke comes out things can get real expensive real quick. Building an original T2 is going to be fraught with danger and failure unless you can find a reliable source of non fake parts or have them already for a know good source. You also need resistors that can handle the high voltages without the insulation breaking down. Xicon 273 series worked for me and KOA mf1/2 seem ok. PRP appear to fail. Joamat plus others worked on a version of the T2 which used mostly still in manufacture transistors but still requires 12 obsolete resistors: staxt2nc3fdh7.zip t2schemmodified.PDF shrunk version 398mm deep: t2shrunk2.zip shrunk version but with solder points for an alps potentiometer t2shrinkedv10.zip This is the version I built. Fortunately I purchased the obsolete transistors from a very well known forum member who purchased them from a known good supplier when they were still available. There is no known version of the full T2 that only uses modern parts.... independent of this there are also three versions of the power supply, (the golden reference power supply series is not suitable because it can't handle the high voltages required for a DIT T2). Joamat et al created a fully regulated version using the lt10 voltage reference: t2250kgsshv.zip t2hvandlvpsukgsshv2.zip (the same reference that is in the golden reference LV and HV boards so I went with this). The other designs use a ref102. t2schempower-2.PDF t2250.zip t2hv2.zip joamat told me the lt10 had lower noise and since I bulk purchased lt10 references I went with his psu boards. I posted the modified gerbers I made and a circuit diagram for the joamat T2 plus power supplies in this thread a short time ago in the diy t2 thread https://www.head-case.org/forums/topic/6837-the-ultimate-diy-a-stax-srm-t2/page/190/. The modifications to joamats gerbers documented in the post to fit my build style (one pcb per channel, no solder points for a pot etc), a few silk screen error corrections and placed a missing track in one of the psu boards and some more ventilation space for the 3W resistors in the psu boards etc etc.

I find myself increasingly enjoying the fiddling. It takes me back to a lost time. I'm even getting back into vinyl, partly because of the fussy nature. I like the preparation before listening. It makes it more of an event. Background music has its place, but I find myself wanting to let the music take me somewhere, not unlike when I was a teenager and would get lost in music, and the hobby of audio. I would spend a lot of time fiddling with my gear, taping sessions and so on. My friends would bring over albums and we'd spend hours listening and recording them. They learned that if they bought the album for me to keep, I'd make them a better cassette tape of it than they could buy. Music has always pulled me through life. It took me to a better place, or helped me grieve some of the things I felt I couldn't control. It kept me company before I learned how to be a social being. I guess it's an old friend.

RIP Sonny Chiba.....no more Hanzo Steel..... https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2021/08/19/sonny-chiba-japanese-martial-arts-film-star-kill-bill-dies-82/8206242002/?fbclid=IwAR0hHK8KQ0aifA9KHTi_0fovEWSzT0bkfaYWw4rBj_ySz3CsFWhbjGKKPfo

Chuck Close R.I.P.

RIP the ridiculously funny Sean Lock, a British comedian, aged a very young 58 from cancer. This is "carrot in a box"

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.