Leaderboard

Depeche Mode – Violator Sounds better than the last time I listened to it...

Saw Jimmy Vivino and Ronnie Earl last week. Really nice Blues, all different types. We went because of Ronnie Earl, and the fact that Jimmy had grown up and went to school in the same hometown as my wife (Glen Rock, NJ); I wasn't familiar with him otherwise. Turned out to be a HELL of a show! Ronnie has a bunch of health issues, so it was great to see him live. And Jimmy was right up there in energy, voice, and spirit. he also had a boatload of great stories from clubs across the states and musicians from the 60's on....

RIP Claes 😢 This one is the one I saw the most near my offices in SF

😥 My fave…

Turn Up The Quiet Diana Krall 2017 https://album.link/i/1440880927 Example: One of the few albums I didn't own by her. It is good, a little overshadowed in my head by the other great albums. But it will go into my Diana Rotation. Edit - I just noticed the mcintosh turntable mt10 on the table with her. Spinning some Ella and Duke Verve wax. No idea where the speakers are.

Happy belated birthday!

Not boring at all. I have gone back and forth between Revolver and Rubber Soul over the years. I like the innovations in both with Rubber being the start of some and Revolver being the refinement of others. Midnight Ludovico Einaudi 2021 https://album.link/i/1561676390 Example: After seeing his Tiny Desk Concert, the other day I had to go back and listen to some of the other albums. This is one that I like, and I would use an extended version to relax to while I would work.

Monitor audio silver 200 speakers on sale for over half off ($400 per speaker). https://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MRSIL200&variation=ERNT

Returned from a shopping trip to Paso Robles.

Brent and I tried this escape room game out (on game pass). It is actually pretty fun! Though he makes some... I guess we can say 'interesting' choices in life, Brent's MENSA status has not been in question for me and he turns out to be a pretty decent partner for solving logic puzzles.

https://www.cortemaderacommunityfoundation.org/corte-madera-summer-concerts Soul Mechanix entertaining the good people of Corte Madera.

I'm in a pet shop boys concert

Warning: possible boring content 😉 Revolver is without a doubt my favorite Beatles album for as long as I can remember. My mom bought me this vinyl when I was barely 12 years old and for many years I have been buying reissues, remasters, rare copies... Forget all songs and go to "Tomorrow never Knows", turn up the volume on your Blue Hawaii and accommodate your 007... Ringo's drums sound brutal!!!!! Phil Collins also has a very good version on his Face Value album from 1981.

Another good Hot Day Album: Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings 1988 https://album.link/i/316136217 Goodness:

Warpaint's first EP, Exquisite Corpse -- I'm familiar with about half of it, because of this concert, which I've listened to, about a brazillion times since its release a couple years ago: You wouldn't think I'd like this, but there's something about this song-oriented laid-back jamband-ish grooviness that carries a very particular charisma for me, hitting me at the same level as doomy stoner. They also make me think of a less testosterone-y* Black Midi, in their free-form stylings. *Yes, that probably rhymes with some sort of pasta.

I had a pair of HomePods, and I’ve hated the Kindle Fire TV interface, so I like picked up a 4k AppleTV, a mount for it, some HomePod brackets and some aluminum angle and miscellaneous hardware. Made a few cuts, drilled a few holes and mounted everything to the TV wall mount. Then I paired the HomePods with the AppleTV and I have a much-improved setup on the cheap.

Steam Summer Sale is live. The site loads ...sometimes. I wouldn't try to do anything on it for an hour or so. Painting by John McNaughton, who is totally in his right mind and definitely not completely off his trolley.

I have been getting back at this..working up to a limited run of these as the STAX SR-X9000 and Audeze CRBN have made that need to happen. But the chassis is extraordinarily expensive and difficult to produce, so I am working at ways to fix that. Also need to put it on the scale, thought it was 45lb but feels more like 60lb haha. It's really not that big of a footprint (13.5x18), but it makes the BHSE look like a toy. Power consumption is 190-200W depending on tubes, with 90-100W of that being heaters. The bottom of the amp is ice cold and the top is pleasantly toasty. The first 3 stages have recessed slide switches on top to switch 6.3 to 12.6v heaters, so common tube types are: 1st: 6SN7/12SN7, 12AU7 and many others w/ 8 to 9 pin adapter 2nd: 6SL7/12SL7, 12AX7 and many others w/ 8 to 9 pin adapter 3rd: 6N6P, ECC99, 12BH7A, possibly others such as 5687 w/ pin-out adapter 4th: Emission Labs 20B-V4

Issues: 1) The headband can twist out of straight-line, minor design flaw. 2) The CRBN has a serious "e-fart" issue. I first tried listening to them right when they arrived, and the temp/humidity of my room must have been too hot because just having the two pads lightly touch each other created serious distortion noises. On-head, even a minor touching shift caused a thunderous cracking noise. I'm giving them another go now since the temperature dropped ten degrees, and the effect is minimized but still apparent. You need to put these on or off your head very carefully - the sound it creates is 85+DB right next to your ears. Other people who were asking about this: this is not normal for any of the Stax models (6?) I've owned. I contacted Audeze to make sure this isn't a defective unit because it seems insane to think they thought this was acceptable for a commercial product. First impressions sonically: The CRBN is sonically a step down in terms of clarity/soundstage and an even more significant step down in detail/separation from the Stax 009S. The CRBN has less bass than I expected too; the Sr009S is not that far off when I use the Carbon amp. However, that's the "on paper" look at things. CRBN has a totally different game they're playing. The presentation is so diffused compared to 009 that it has an extraordinary "filled-in" effect. As mentioned before, the bubble of the soundstage is perhaps half(?) the size of the Sr009s, but it has the illusion of seeming like it can create sound in all directions within it (up/down, diagonal), where the Stax sr-009s is more like a straight string from ear-to-ear, and images appear highly separate on that string. I heard a song on the CRBN where an instrument moved from the back of my head to the front ... don't think I've ever listened to any headphone capable of such an effect. Instruments blend together, but in a musical way that enhances the harmony. Voices, for whatever reason, cut through the separation better and sound tonally correct. I find myself less fatigued, tapping my foot more, enjoying music. This headphone has a lot of soul.

Lighten up Francis Callum.

Claes Oldenburg, a whimsical father of pop art, dies at 93

Good grief. RIP former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, who succumbed to the injuries he sustained after being shot while giving a speech. This is a major historical event in the history of Japan, and I scarcely have the words.