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Just thankful to have been keeping up with this thread. I had been getting complacent with my Breville, and had been making some admittedly mediocre espresso. As with all the other shortages out there, I had to make a change in beans. This thread inspired me to revisit grind and dose size and tamping pressure, and really got it dialed in this morning. By far the best espresso I’ve made in a long time.

It's Burl Ives season

I was at one of my favorite audio stores Tuesday, picking up my KEF subwoofer I had ordered. The owner had me siting listening to a wonderful system (*) with a new Luxman Class A integrated (only $12k) and Aerial 7T speakers. We played some lovely things, including a fair bit of Aventine, which sounded just fantastic on the system! (*) we also talked rooms and system synergy. He gets it, in a massive way. When I was in Florida I visited a dealer there who carried McIntosh, Classe, and Focal Kanta & Paradigm Persona speakers. In systems costing anywhere from $60K to maybe $90K, I thought many aspects of my much less expensive system actually sounded better. The local dealer talked about how they were likely more theater-based and carried the expensive gear to support the local nouveau riche in Naples FL (of which there are MANY).

George Baselitz exhibit was already on the list but we went today to honor the architect as well.

I like using internal tooth lock washers for the grounding points. The teeth cut through the anodising and paint, and prevent the screws from loosening. Also, I use more than one chassis grounding point (usually at the connection between the side and base plates), just to be absolutely sure.

Thanks for the clarity Kevin! definitely not playing around with such a stern guideline!

RIP giant Joan Didion. "I’m not telling you to make the world better, because I don’t think that progress is necessarily part of the package. I’m just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it. To look at it. To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it. To seize the moment." https://www.npr.org/2021/12/23/375431790/joan-didion-obituary

Found out a couple weeks ago, that a producer friend of mine has been working with Brian Moloko and Placebo, so I've been listening to their albums and B-sides, as they have one of those catalogs that I really just enjoy the entire thing of. Looking forward to the new album coming out next year.

6922 and el34 only. the pinched waist siemens tubes on ebay for stupid amounts of money are all fakes that blow up as soon as you put 75 volts on the grid.

Reviews of early production Eureka Mignon Oro single dose are trickling in. I had been interested in this grinder. I am very happy with the decision to jump on the Niche when they were available.

For the case, the anodizing will isolate each panel from one another. Many people use a bit of sandpaper or abrasive to clear the anodizing in a small area in between panels, and where the PE ground is connected from the IEC terminal. As for the PSU ground, I would not connect it to the chassis directly, but use a ground loop breaker (see https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/audio-component-grounding-and-interconnection.163575/). For the case, once you are satisfied, I would check with an ohmmeter to make sure you have continuity.

My new small obsession: Fat Cat Art. A HS FB friend followed this woman's page, she has a fat cat and is a painter (or does photoshopping well). She injects her cat into various scenes and famous paintings. Sadly, her cat (Zarathustra) just passed recently. But she's amazing and fun with her work, even some YouTube videos that had me chucking tons. I especially liked this because we used to have a fat orange cat named SOTA. Some of you may remember a multi-page thread around 2006 on H-F where SOTA was photoshopped to hell and back. He became known as The Rambo Bose Kitty, and had his 15 minutes of cat fame. Anyway, fun to browse: https://fatcatart.com/?lang=en

Those songs, as well as Diana, were added to the Apple Music Chelsea Wolfe Essentials Playlist. I highly recommend it as it includes a number of her collaborations as well... Stuff I would've have easily found otherwise, including Russian Circles, King Dude, Myrkur and Saudade (and of course, Anhedonia with Emma Ruth Rundle). I love listening to her album-by-album, but this playlist is fantastic if you use Apple Music. https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/chelsea-wolfe-essentials/pl.b4ec95a5673a47e99d3ceff1979778f0 I tend to listen to Aventine more... I need to go back and listen to this again.

i'm done

If you find yourself in my neck of the woods near Oxford UK on your way back, there are cold beers in the fridge with your name on them...

After several years layoff I have built a KGSShv Carbon which uses boards I had in and 4 Cree sicfets from several years back (luckily). The power supply is KGSShv v8 and the amps Carbon v6. It has been one of the easiest builds because of a different way of making the cases which I have described in Making diy cases, https://www.head-case.org/forums/topic/18892-making-diy-cases/ It is set for 400v supplies and 17mA output stage currents. It does not get particularly hot in a 20o C room, the heatsinks run a max of 40o at the centre. The power supply pass transistors are bolted to the bottom of the case and the case runs pleasantly warm to the touch. The size is 335 W x 314 D x 155 H inc feet. Weight 8.5Kg. (13in x 12.4in x 6.1in, 18.8lb.)