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Joni Mitchell at Newport (Live) Joni Mitchell 2023 https://album.link/i/1686570727 Example: Nothing to say.

Need to start matching these but liking the results from the basic tester so far

There's an annual gathering of Land Rover owners here on MV. There's a bunch on island, but people come from all-over. There are two photos (taken by someone else) from last year's meetup: I made it a point to be there this year. I took my Leica C3 and well, my iPhone. There's always "that guy" at these meetings. Not an Land Rover, but a neat conversion. I have no idea what this thing is, but it's fascinating.

Reading Jacob's post and realized I forgot to include the actual machine...LOL. So surprised how well it's held up simply by using terry cloth and water after uses.

Another Rudy recording: Andrew Hill- Judgment!

The fact that Kerry is mining back through missed birthdays threw me off at first but mostly just makes me smile. 😁

https://www.ci.healdsburg.ca.us/909/Art-After-Dark

I think I’m just going to get another Breville Dual Boiler. A new new one, with a warranty, that they will still support. I’ve also decided that I neither need nor want a new grinder. I think not having an electric machine for a while got me past the FOMO and GAS over the Niche Duo. I’ve been pulling just delectable shots with the Niche Zero and Flair 58.

Healdsburg sunset comforts Chinese chicken salad

Approaching two years that I purchased the Lelit Bianca. I ultimately plumbed it directly to water and added a filtration system to make it simpler. This thing is a tank. At first I was using it a few times a week. it's almost a year I use it almost daily. So time for a service and it was good to see how clean things were. Replaced the group head filter and gasket. Gasket was hardening but not brittle by any means and the IMS filter looked very good given usage. Included is the replacement group head filter. The original gasket is in black and 8mm. I bought both 8.0 and 8.5 and the original size was best. Very little to clean under the filter. And finally the product I use to perform backlashes every 1-2 months (mostly latter...). Happy brewing... HS

Yeah, my buddy has one of those but it largely just prints single color cutouts which does not really work for the new logo. Looking at Sticker Mule for stickers and finding out the minimum number of custom shirts I can buy from my neighbor from his business.

I bought the Topping and got it this week, with hopes it could be a second or extra Stat amp. I was even planning on doing a "bargain stat amp" feature at my new journalistic home "Positive Feedback", where you can find my review of the Audeze CRBNs, for example. Anway, I'm not going to publish, I don't like to publish reviews of bad gear 😞 What a disappointment this amp turned out to be. My disappointment came in stages. The first stage was an optimistic listen: "Hey, not too bad". At that time I was listening to some simple classical and folk arrangements: with solo voices and guitar, the weaknesses of the Topping circuit are not immediately obvious. But as soon as I played more complex music, full orchestra, rock band, you name it. Where it starts to get real harsh, bloated, lose dimension is with complex music, full orchestra, rock band, you name it. The more I listened, the more I started to hate this amp. I WILL BET THAT THERE ARE MEASUREMENTS THAT WILL REVEAL THIS AMP'S WEAKNESSES. You just have to know how to find out where the bodies are buried. I did find some that clearly show its weaknesses. Attached below. Frequency response (with a 100 pf load), Output level just before clipping, THD at various frequencies at normal levels and just before clipping (spectrum and %), IMD (19-20 kHz) (spectrum and %). The one thing I should have measured is a special multitone signal I use, I bet that would show where the bodies are buried, and tell us why the amp falls totally flat the more complex the music you put into it. But I'm so disenheartened and disappointed by the sound of it that I don't have the energy to bring it back to the test bench. I like to display an amplifier's measurements in equivalent SPL, based on Stax 007 and CRBN nominal sensitivity of 100 volts RMS = nominally 100 dB SPL. It helps bring a real-world perspective to amplifier measurements. Topping Factory spec for max is 700 volts RMS (I suppose the factory took this a cat's hair below clipping and only at 1 kHz). I measured maximum output at 1 dB below clipping at 630 volts RMS at 1 kHz, equivalent to 116 dB SPL. But When performing the 20 Hz THD test, the amp's DC protection circuit kicked in and the most I could get out of it at 20 Hz with a continuous sine wave was the equivalent of 105 dB SPL, 177 volts RMS before the amp shut down. So the lower the frequency, the worst the amp's headroom for transients. Plus, the THD at low frequencies is pretty bad, the transformer saturates very strongly. To see where the skeletons are buried in this amp, take a look at my measurements. The measurements to really study is a comparison of the Mjolnir KGSS HV Carbon and the Topping at nominally 90 dB equivalent SPL of IMD 19-20 kHz 1:1 ratio. I think that lurking in that measurement is at least one of the reasons why the Topping sounds so harsh and the Mjolnir sounds so pure. The primary difference tone at 1 kHz in the spectrum does not tell the story. Notice the high frequency side bands near the 19-20 kHz that begin to reveal to us the Topping's nonlinearities. There's more in the attachments. I'm sorry that I didn't do the multitone, I will some day, when I get around to it, and I'm sure it will reveal the skeleton underneath the "golden glow" of this amp. The date in the Fluke scope pictures is wrong... it's actually yesterday, 7/28/23. I have to fix the date in my Fluke Scope. Every time the battery dies, it loses the date 😞

Now this just mean.

Filter setup in case it's of any use to anyone. Houston has very hard water. HS

Put in a pre-order for the Christopher Ward The 12 in titanium with a blue dial. I should have it in September. I’m looking forward to it! I was going to get an Hermes H08, but decided I just didn’t like the seconds hand. The Christopher Ward doesn’t have any details I haven’t liked, so far. It hurts a little, as it’s so pretty, but the JLC Master Calendar is up for sale. If anybody is interested I’ll share a link with info and pics, and I’ll give an HC price. Love the watch, but I just don’t wear it: I can’t read the damned thing because my eyes have gone to crap, so there is no point in keeping it, alas. The old saying that by the time you can afford a calendar watch you can’t read it is unfortunately true for me.

Does this mean that I'm going to dislike both movies as much as I dislike The Smiths and Morrissey?

So much this. Sorry Jose, not sure how I missed this thread.

Happy (very) belated birthday, Jose

You had me at meaty…. HS

Chips 'n' dip (spicy guacamole) and a very meaty sausage roll from https://www.burtonzbakery.com/ At https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/visit/find-a-park/healdsburg-veterans-memorial-beach

Haha... my birthday was back in mid-May and most of you had already wished me a Happy Birthday then, but thanks again!

I deplored the pre BE Focals and Wilson audio speakers that used the same drivers. I’ve really liked to them since the BE.

I'll stick to my 007's. They are quite happy with the Carbon making them sing. HS

Following up with Rudy recordings

A Night in Tunisia - Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers

And now, a post dip Waffogato (Not shown farmers market strawberries, and banana we added) From https://www.amyswickedslush.com/ Still at Although it seems that while we were here enjoying ourselves, this happened Have to see what actually happened, in the connected building, when we get back.