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I've always been an aircraft nerd since I was a kid, particularly military, particularly WWII aircraft. I had the chance this weekend to see one of the two flyable B-29s, Fifi, up at the DuPage Airport, so made it up there. There was also a B-24 (very early model, serial number 18 of ~18,000 built), as well as a Stearman biplane, a T-6 Texan, and a Beech RC45 transport aircraft. I could have bought a ride on any of them (B-29 was $1,800 for the bombardier seat), but they were all sold out. Was cool to go up there anyway, and be able to go inside the B-29.

Here are some silent films to watch until you have a solution. https://www.openculture.com/free-silent-films Also an AppleTV with Airbuds works for me.

Plugged holes (I'm well known for that ability), and cladded the sides.

These are nothing special, but been shooting the 5D Classic this week after awhile. Surprisingly stress-free and little post needed.

Time to catch-up on my musical Blog.. I have been listening, but have not been taking the time to post, I hope that my schedule will slow down in the future to keep on top of it. So much to listen to. Anyway. Study In Brown Clifford Brown, Max Roach 1955 https://album.link/i/1434889869 Example: This '55 Mercury recording is really good and catching the Cliff and Max combo pack in a good place. Other than the possibly racist 'Cherokee' track, a very fun set. Dusty In Memphis Dusty Springfield 1969 https://album.link/i/302307350 Example: Such a pretty voice. We all know Preacher Man, but this album has a lot of great tunes and highlights Dusty's talents. And Many thanks to the members of The Memphis Boys making the sound so good. Mo '69 The Allman Brothers Band (Deluxe Edition) The Allman Brothers Band 1969 https://album.link/i/1469577513 Example: I added this to my queue (along with Brothers and Sisters) a while ago after hearing a track off the youtubes. I never owned any of their albums, I just heard radio play back in the day. I have to say I really like the brand of blues and rock that they put out there. Good recording. Also be careful when someone asks for what to wear for the photo shoot, and you say, whatever you want. RoundAgain Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, Brian Blade 2020 https://album.link/i/1502112092 Example: Just an awesome quad. I hope that they continue to do some colabs while they are in this groove, I need more, and to see them play live. Leonid Kogan Plays Brahms & Khachaturian Leonid Kogan, Philharmonia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra 2012 https://album.link/i/570710062 Example: I am not sure how this got into my queue. Maybe a stereophile testing track? Anyway, really a good recording, for what I was expecting to be a more historical recording (1958,59). I was not familiar with the Khachaturian piece, but something that I will look for going forward. Good balanced recording for orchestra and soloist. Ah, a little research later - turns out that the second work was recorded by RCA and released originally as Red Seal 'Shaded Dog' label. So, yeah - good recording. It is a little tricky when looking through a list and you see 'Guild Historical' as the label on the cover. So, I am glad that I got to listen to this one. And Speaking of happy listening. Revolver (Super Deluxe) The Beatles 1966 https://album.link/i/1643394501 Example: It has been a while since I have listened to this album. The 2022 mix came up somewhere, and there was a lot of chatter and some controversy. People getting all but hurt about this version verses that version and original bla bla. Putting all that aside. I listened to this diligently. And yup, frickin amazing. I go back between this and Rubber as my fav albums of this era for them. The exploration of song format and the introduction of instruments really pushed these froward. Do I need the other 50 tracks of outtakes and false starts? Not really. But what those really point out is how much George Martin was there to piece together all these cuts and tracks into pretty cohesive songs. They were not a one take live to tape band. Also like that there are rough edges and studio artifacts left in. Anyway - back to listening.

This is my favorite Beatles album. I have several different versions of it (mono, stereo, Japanese, vinyl, cd, deluxe, etc... including an original from '66 that I bought on a visit to London a few years ago) and this is undoubtedly the best of them or at least it's the one I enjoy the most in terms of sound.

Two other versions of Son of a Preacherman that I've always enjoyed, by two Bobbie's... In fact this Bobbie Cryner album is a favorite of mine. Country, but not your standard Country. Jazz influenced for sure.

So for the last 24 hours I've been toying with the idea of buying a refurb'd D3S. They're not that expensive, and a fraction of the price of a new Canon mirrorless. Insane high ISO performance. 12MP is fine for me. As I mentioned I have Dinny's old Nikon 50mm, which I have not used in the 15 years I've owned it. I also have a super neat Nikon 75-150mm F/3.5 E zoom (it has lousy CA, but the best bokeh I have ever seen.) Well that idea is officially dead. I did some reading and (re)learned that it's not a good idea to mount M42 lenses to Nikon bodies. Nikon's flange depth is the issue. M42 lenses cannot reach infinity focus without an optical adapter that acts as weak tele-extender and reduces image quality. Canon does not have this problem. I have an army of M42 glass. From amusing crap (Yashika 50mm F1.9, a very beat up Ashai Super Takumar 50mm F/1.4) to stunning and historic optical achievements (Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 135mm F/3.5, Tair 11A 135mm, Meyer Orestor 135mm F/2.8, Orestegor 200mm F/4, Orestegor 300mm F/4). Yes, I have more manual 135mm primes than a used camera shop and it's not like 135mm is a particularly useful focal length. Stop looking at me like that. The point here is there is no way in H E double hockey sticks that I am giving up all my manual lenses. I'd sooner buy a refurb'd 5D Mk II and I kind of hate that body (it was a sign of Canon going in the completely wrong direction: high MP count, lousy high ISO performance.) My Meyer-Optik Orestor 135mm F/2.8 attached to a friend's Rebel digital body in '09. One zebra ring is focus, the other is aperture preset. The Orestor has a 15 blade aperture. This shot was taken with my 30D and my Tair 11A, which has a 22 blade aperture. The Meyer-Optik Orestegor 300mm F/4 tank shell of a lens mounted to my Rebel K2 film body in '08, not far from where I'm sitting now. It has a 19 blade aperture. All of these lenses with insane number of aperture blades allow for absolutely sublime "bokeh shaping." It's so heavy it more or less mandates a tripod and still subject. I've mentioned this before but the 300mm Orestegor is a medium format lens with its own 35mm adapter. I've always wanted to buy an old Pentacon Six or whatever body and try out the 300mm with double the FoV and same DoF. I have told myself I'm not allowed to buy any more film cameras until I've built a darkroom. [I'm nearly 50 years old. I probably will not live to build a darkroom, but it's not entirely beyond the realm of possibility.] Photo of the Tair 11A's aperture by Simon's utak on Flickr. The 300mm Orestegor's aperture as captured by SteveFE on Flickr. I don't have any photos OF the Jena Sonnar, but I have a few taken with it (what an odd idea): Study of a bar ...thingy. ISO3200 on my 30D, which in general sucked at that ISO. Note how sharp the metal detail is and how pleasing the OOF areas are. The truth is, I have definitely not used the Sonnar enough. It's probably the best of the bunch from an optical perspective. Bonus, SteveFE holding his Orestegor in 2006, propped up against his car so he doesn't fall over: Me with the same lens, doing an imitation of Steve in 2009: If the lens looks smaller when I hold it, that's because I have freakishly oversized mitts. TL;DR: All digital camera bodies are ultimately disposable. Glass is forever. I have a thing for lenses with a silly number of aperture blades. I'm sticking with Canon.

And a small planter. The planter actually goes about 10" deep.

I was "today year's old" when I learned that Teddy Pendergrass was a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes 🤦‍♂️:

I have so many useless Milwaukee and Dewalt bags and chargers laying around. They make it hard to pass up these kits, but all they add to my shop is clutter. I think I have 7 Milwaukee chargers, three Dewalt and the VW Beetle sized double charger from Makita taking up room around here. I tend to buy Milwaukee when they are an option as I have so many batteries for them. Makita 40v is interesting but seems way overkill for anyone but pros.

I just checked reviews of the Beatles Stereo box set from 2009... some reviewers were complaining about the stereo mixing, and there was the new Giles Martin mix in 2022. Maybe I'm glad I waited this long to get the Beatles albums. I can see from searching online that the other albums haven't received this special remastering treatment yet, either. It's a little crazy looking at the various way this album is packaged and priced in 2023. You can also get the Japanese SHM release from Universal Japan.

The sets are generally not the bargain they appear to be. They usually don't consist of top tier items.

Nice^^ Eva Cassidy did a great version of Son Of A Preach her Man, too....

For those who miss innocent old Star Trek days...

The Quad gear of that time certainly had it's own unique style. And those Celestion speakers were highly rated. I coveted the Celestion SL700 at that time. I also loved the Cyrus gear. I had a Mission CD player that I really loved.

Makita also has a newer 40vt system. Very good reviews on that system. But what I really like is that they're not abandoning their 18vt system. They're still issuing new tools on that and the 36vt (two 18vt) platform. But I'm not here to sway you. All are good systems. What I would do is list the tools that I'd like to purchase, then look at those tools on the various platforms. Then make my decision on the brand that had the features I liked best.

Should have gone to India, I guess. From that reliable source "Friend of my cousin" https://www.hindustantimes.com/trending/barbenheimer-for-real-oppenheimer-played-in-theatre-with-barbie-subtitles-101690102502685-amp.html

Makita has been making battery-powered tools for decades and I would say they are leaders not followers. That said, any of these systems will be a good choice.

So the soundbar is your left channel and the subwoofer is the right, and you point it away from you. Well okay then... (unless there is a plot twist and it is an AI render)

In the parlance of our times, new subwoofer placement meta just dropped.

I have the base version of these. The upgraded ones Steve linked to use a more expensive driver, and possibly better amps. They are remarkable in their ability to do deep bass . They are also remarkable in their ability to sound like just about any speaker you like. The DSP is fun. The tunings are done via a USB dongle that you insert. And as Steve guessed, you basically find the tuning you like and stick with it. The app isn't necessary, or really even very useful. I'm not sure I've ever used it. I just keep a download of all the tunings in case I want to change it - in practice I never do. Additionally, repairs are pretty easy and the warranty is long. In the event of an issue, they basically send you a whole module complete with streamer, dac, amp, etc. A few screws and one cable and it's done. The biggest issue would be the company going under. Sound quality is quite good. They aren't perfect at all, but for the cost you'd be hard pressed to buy speakers, amps, dac, streamer and cables that compared. That said, I am probably jumping ship before too long. But that has more with a desire to build something weird and esoteric, and to play with tubes again. So if anyone is interested in a good deal on some of these hit me up. Mine have the Primare SC15 which can be included, or not. I am happy to keep it.

I built a tree bench/table. I'll cut plugs this weekend to cover the screws Monday. The surrounding ground will have artificial turf installed this weekend. The turf will extend up the box about 4". Monday I'll cover the PT 2" X 6" box with matching 3/4" Cedar.

"...music from my heart to heart, not from fingers to ears..." What a beautiful sentiment! Hiromi is a treasure and must be cherished. And oh yeah, here's her music:

I guess that this is not the appropriate thread (sorry guys) but I think it's a very interesting video. As you all know, I like to collect different versions/editions of certain pieces. "Kind of Blue" is one of them. Right now I think I have about 7 different editions (vinil and cd). I admit that the reel to reel tape is something that has always attracted me, although I don't dare to enter that world.

Dream Weaver

Even for its source segment, I read that "the signal won't pass the internal cables, panel switch nor potentimeter.", thus I can't help getting curious how does Aperio transmit the signals? Edit: I found the answer gold plated silver contacts and premium signal relay.

I know but same shit driver design and amplifier. What are the odds this isn't shit as well?

I have a couple of the Sonoma Model 1 sets so I've been looking into making an amp for them. They are pretty much worthless at this point so can be picked up cheap but yeah, single ended and the driver design is all kinds of stupid. The bias is 1350V and the amp runs on a single 450V rail so the bias is doing most of the work here. The bias is actually on the drive signal with the AC signal super imposed on it through a 2000V cap. Why did they do this? It was supposed to be cheap but sold for 5K$... yeah. They are also very non linear so the internal DSP is doing a lot of work. I did listen to the Bravura in NYC and what a fucking turd. The drivers are close to identical so all of the same issues as the older Sonoma. You can hear it's a tailored sound from the DSP as they try to fix the mess the drivers are making. None of this makes any sense...

From warwick official website, I think their aperio has a high voltage bias (1800Vdc) driver, which is much higher than the 1350Vdc of their lower models. it means that the output voltage of the amplifier no longer needs to be as high as the traditional electrostatic system, therefore does not require too much power and heat dissipation. In addition, for the built-in amplifier of HE1, I guess it may be the cool-mosfet version with reduced gain of the hev70 vas since Sennheiser applied for a patent(DE4329991A1) similar to the design of the HE1 in 1993. I heard HE1 once at the exhibition, and I also think that the potentiometer should be set to the position of about 2-3 o’clock to get loud enough, indicating the input sensitivity voltage can be a bit high based on the two-stage amplifier's gain setting being too low...🤷‍♂️

No, there is no transformer on the output

If you can find any internal pictures then that would be great. Based on the T8000 is not great as that is one crappy amplifier.

Got my abscesses tooth extracted (and a bone graft put in). Fun times! I didn’t get any of the good drugs for afterwards.