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Technically this qualifies as cooking, because I cooked the bacon in my BLTA.

Looks like a beautiful cup, Jacob! My latest batch of coffees... The Costa Rican is a great on the Chemex. I'll have to try it on the Hario next. The Eclipse makes making espresso almost too easy... Nice dark oily beans. Definitely has a backbone. HS

Built a Megatron. Seems to be the perfect amp to build during the seemingly unending shortage of 10m90s. I used up my final few pieces of 10m90s and C2M1000170D for this simple build, and it gave me some mild anxiety and regret for not hoarding up those sands. However, the build experience and result are worth it. Build process and after thoughts I started off with a pair of generic chassis from Taobao. 32cm wide, 8cm tall, 35cm deep. Silver and black anodised aluminium. They weren't available in other finishes but this looks clean enough to me. They do have some minor scratches and dents if you look hard enough though. The casework was done by a laser etching service provider I found on Taobao. The end result was a clean and modern appearance. Inside the PSU are a pair of +/-450V GRHV, +/- 15V GRLV, delay board and a 270VA toroidal transformer. The idea was to create a PSU that can be used by both the Megatron and the Grounded Grid amp units. These components fit the chassis nicely with little room for a third GRHV board for the 300v rail for Megatron. Outputs are split into AC and DC outputs. Transformer specs: The heatsinks for the amp unit were probably redundant since most of the heat comes off from the top. The amp board could probably fit into a smaller and lighter chassis, but I chose the same chassis as the PSU just so that they can stack. The amp build was straight forward and relatively easy compared to a Carbon build or any of the KG dynamic amp builds, due to the low component count. I did not use any boutique components in this build. The coupling caps are Wima, and the voltage rail decoupling caps are Siemens. Volume pot is an EIZZ-style stepped attenuator, internal signal wirings are pure copper. Special care was taken when routing the heater filament wires to avoid hum. Amp testing and adjustment was simple. Just ensure the all the rails are as spec'ed and that's about it. The voltage offset settles automatically after power on. No need to fiddle with any potentiometer when the amp is powered on, so it is much safer to test than the Carbon or the T2 family. Sound I used the Megatron with ES-1A, and here is my impression of the Megatron after comparing it with GG (on the same PSU), Carbon (450V GRHV 15V GRLV) and Mini T2 (triple GRHV). Currently I am using the Megatron with a quad of Mullard XF2 and PSVane EL34PH. The front end tubes are all Valvos. The sound of the Megatron is warm, slightly thick in the mids, and non fatiguing and airy in the treble. It sounds very natural and the imaging is holographic with good recordings. While it is very detailed, it does not ruin joy if the recordings are of poorer quality. Older or poorly mixed recordings have a smooth timbre and organic vibe when heard from the Megatron. While the Megatron's treble is not as extended as the Carbon's, it complements the overall signature to create a very complete soundstage and convincing sense of separation and space. What makes the Megatron standout from crowd lies in its low end - it is an amp for bassheads. It has by far the most THICC bass compared to my other amps, even more than the Carbon. The bass extends as deep as the Carbon, but the Megatron has a nice lift in the mid bass that makes my ES 1a slam extra hard. Listening to EDMs and fast pop tracks on E-Stats is finally satisfying, and I can finally stash away my planars. Carbon is like an antithesis to the Megatron. Carbon is like a clean cutting razor with little tolerance for inaccuracies where as Megatron adds a lot of joy and flavour into the listening experience. Carbon also sounds a little linear. Although the stage is wide, it is not as deep as the Megatron's. GG sounds more organic than Carbon in general. The GG's signature is quite dependent on the tubes. With the XF2s, GG is warm and clean, but doesn't deviate far from the Carbon sound. The bass isn't as tight and fast, and treble could sound stiff and slightly shrill with the wrong tubes - such as the re-issue Mullard EL34. Mini T2 sounds slightly leaner and cleaner than the Megatron, and has a much smaller bass. It is as enjoyable a listening experience for me, but the Mini T2 was much harder to build - by sheer component count. Tube placement and choices Placing the EL34s in this manner shown below allows one to use two matched quads of EL34 if matched octets are unavailable. Initially I used cheap Linlai tubes for the front end and had issues with sound imbalance and hum - turned out that the tubes were the culprits. Switched to some cheap NOS and the issues were gone. So my advice would be to use well built tubes from reputable makers. The 12AU7s affect the sound significantly. The option to roll tubes makes Megatron extra fun to use. More photos of the internals and the back of the amp coming up soon, when I am more free. I would say that the Megatron is my favourite amp - until I build the T2.

Once again this year I'm prepping to ride a century in support of the Kelly Brush Foundation. Between indoor Zwifting, the MTBs, and the upgraded Canyon this spring I'm creeping up on 3,000 miles in preparation this year and will surpass that mark before the event. Once again this year it'll be an in-person ride up in VT, with friends mostly coming from near-by so we should have a strong crew of 8 with some riding the 50 and most doing the full 100 miles. For me this is the 11th century that I've done in support of either Northeast Passage or Kelly Brush and I'm looking forward to enjoying it and hoping that our trend of good weather continues. So the mission remains the same, I'm trying to raise a bunch of money again this year with a goal of $2,000. As usual, all of the donations are tax deductible and maybe some legislation will get passed this year to make that more meaningful but really, I'm hoping the motivation isn't just to get a write off. So for those that are interested, here's the link to my personal fund raising page - Nate's Fundraising Page. Any donation large or small is very much appreciated. A bit about KBF - they are a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting individuals with spinal cord injuries in finding ways to get out and enjoy an active lifestyle. For me, this is a cause close to my heart. I love the outdoors and the freedom to explore it in a variety of ways and have worked with organizations like the KBF for the last twenty years to help others do the same. Last year's group at the starting line. EDIT - Link fixed...

Picked this up yesterday. I blame Andy @blubliss. 😜

Finally have a bottomless portafilter on the Breville. Boy is this a different machine with a precision basket (IMS competition 20/22, in this case: I pull 20gram with it usually). Interestingly I am quite a bit coarser with the Breville than with the Flair 58. I suppose this makes sense: even with the 10 second preinfusion I’m doing it still takes a while for the puck to degrade; I’m doing a higher pressure and longer initial infusion usually, and I can feel resistance and ramp up force (not pressure, but torque on the arm) to compensate, which means I can go quite fine. 21 vs 15 on the Niche. I’m running 197 on medium espresso roast (Intelligentsia Black Cat, in this case). 197 is right in the middle of the range I may go hotter for lighter roasts. The Breville doesn’t make as interesting a shot as the Flair, but it consistently makes excellent shots. Even some striping and flecks.

Another good Tiny Desk

I'll allow it. homemade za and a tankard of dew

Happy birthdayish. 20,000 means you're the mightiest of them all!

I turned 20,000 days old today... (yes, really) ...and counting

Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (Remastered) Charles Mingus 1960 https://album.link/i/1610350703 Example: Good performance. But also made him sound like kind of a dick. Don't applaud, don't make any noise, just sit there and shut up and listen we are busy up here.

i have the foxalien 20W which is a single diode with 5W actual optical output. https://www.foxalien.com/en-gb/collections/cnc-accessories/products/foxalien-20w-fixed-focus-blue-laser-module-kit fox alien also sell a 40W which is dual diode and about 10W optical output. You need a cnc controller which has a laser output. The fox alien is 3 pin - 0V dc power ( I think 12 or 24V) and a pwm for laser power control. Im using lightburn software which works well and has some laser test and calibration templates built in. General consensus on the internet seems to be that if you run a diode laser at full output you wear out the diode very quickly. So im tending to go slower movement and lowish power. The cnc controller board takes the spindle speed control commands and converts them to pwm signals for the laser output power control. On the fox alien vasto this requires setting a slide switch on the back of the controller to laser mode AND sending a G code command to go into laser mode. The slide switch disables the 48VDC motor output via a relay, disables rpm control via the speed potentiometer and enables the 3 pin laser output. The g code command tells the cnc controller to convert g code rpm commands to a pwm laser power control signal. I have also changed the stock 400W 48VDC air cooled spindle for a 65mm diameter er11 1.5Kw water cooled and a vfd. I would have preferred 80mm diameter er16 as suggested in this thread but I don't have an 80mm mounting bracket and the Z axis of my cnc does not look like it will take a bracket for 80mm spindles. Initial results are promising compared to the 400W. I still need to tweak the vfd settings for accel, breaking and torque. The stock spindle is cheap and nasty. I took it apart and it has two small bearings and the case is thin and the entire thing is held together with two long bolts. Its not very rigid at all and certainly seems to be one of the weaknesses of the machine along with the spoil board.. The 1.5Kw feels far more rigid and is 3 phase 220VAC.

I think his page should be this. I'm in, as usual

Friday's show is up:

Colin, is that you?

Had the best dinner. I had Steak Frite, but we kind of shared everything. Finished the evening with cones from Fairfax Scoop. Sorry no pics. The ladies didn't want me showing pics of their tripple scoop towers. Let's just pretend she does it for proper speaker separation.

I send my stuff out for the moment. They use a fiber laser. Very nice stuff. Congrats and good luck.

Maybe I’m not coffee snob enough, but I found Onyx to be good but nothing amazing. It’s readily available here since it’s almost local and a handful of places have it as their daily drip. I’ve actually never found any coffee to be good on the same level as a good beer/whiskey is. Maybe I just need to spike it more often 😂

in..

They pissed me off but good a few years ago when they went to the Neimann Marcus packaging and lowered the amount of coffee, n_maher. Stopped buying altogether until I went back recently...this was my second order in years. I agree it's pricey but damn they do a good job choosing and roasting beans... HS

At the equivalent of ~$30/lb (unless you buy 2lb, then it's $25/lb) that stuff is out of my league.

Thanks Antonio, in and done!

Hi Nate, link doesn't work, URL looks cut off and results in a not found type of page.....

Audeze wasn't very helpful. They sent a big letter about their design choice and tensioning on the diaphragm. No offer to help remedy the issue.

Funny, you don't look a day over 18,000. Me right now: Happy 19,946th unbirthday! (drinks)

You don't look a day over 19,000!

So you'll drink to that? As will we all. Cheers to 20KiloDay Mikey, Or 10TonDay Mikey in freedom units.

Another way to build floating shelves, without purchasing the steel supports.

For laser etching anodized aluminum, you typically only burn out the dye from the anodizing. Once you burn into the aluminum, it typically turns the aluminum brown. Try using less power to see if you can get it a little whiter, but it looks very good.

well the missing bolts arrived and the free 20W laser... so I had some fun trying to burn front panel markings. After a few experiments I realised the default settings in light burn are insane...6000mm/min movement speed no way! and 0.1mm between steps does not provide good resolution and gives a streak effect on text and slightly jagged lines... I improved by changing the settings to two passes at 90% power, 0.05mm stepover and 1000mm/min. This gives a crisp result (crisper than my camera phone can show). The result is not a shiny as engraving with an actual 10degree 0.1mm engraving tool, so I will experiment a bit more. I guess I am still not quite getting all the way through the anodizing.

The Soekris 2541 calibrates itself on startup, to compensate for any small differences in switches or resistors

After almost three and a half months, the KGST is finally in operation, and is sounding great. Thanks to all who have responded to my questions and given guidance. I am really surprised at how good the 40 year old headphone sounds with this amp. Special thanks also to Bigir and Dr. Gilmore for such wonder contributions to the community.

in progress... tubes are 9RA6 not 6S4A.

Anne Hache, 53.

PIP Billy Woodman, founder of ATC loudspeakers. One of the audio greats. Too early at 76 after long ill health. https://atc.audio/