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Spent the 4th up in Maine, our condo association had a mini-parade of kids and golf carts (~ a dozen carts, several made up quite well); also a pic of my next-door neighbor Michelle and her two - used to have 4 - Samoyeds, beautiful pups! Also visited one of Karen and my favorite places, Cape Porpoise....sat and contemplated life a bit there.

Sending a hug your way @skullguise.

Was going to put these in the Slow Forum thread but figured we could use some kitty posts

We went to Musaafer in the Galleria (Indian). It had been a few years and I have to say they have upped their game which was not too shabby previously. We went the tasting menu route and had to take the main dishes to go we got so full....first world problems. Here are a few of the dishes. HS

With help of above Mini Hot Plate I managed to build another three small regulators. Here they are on a “motherboard” with rectifiers and electrolytics to achieve 12VCD. The trimmers are for adjusting output voltage, 2.5V for 2A3 and 5V for 300B. Now I want a regulator for 6,3V and 7.5V. The buck converter above is limited to 5.5V, so might try LMQ66430. @Shawn What inductor did you use with LMQ66430?

More HDD cleanup

Part 2 just dropped: Part 1, if you don't know it:

Well Hello Stern Grove SF Symphony in the grove! Ukulele hero antics from Taimane Hoops and "herbal" wafts, because SF. EDIT: (Shareable) SF Chronicle article for more context

Took a ride in a Jaaaag from the future, to solve the last mile problem.

Stern Grove picnic, with a few city friends

Had some free time so on went the 007Mk1 pads: These are the 71xxx type but fitted with new foam so not stock, not that a 20+ year old stock set would be fine now. First impressions are okey, the sound has a tad more space around it and the top end might be a bit better but a particular frequency range has that "sheen" to it that is not natural. I'll spend some more time with this setup Comparison of the stock pads on the right and 007Mk1's on the left (with new foam so a bit puffier than normal). Now the Kennerton pads vs. the stock ones. This is with 007 mesh installed but much smaller opening area. Thicker leather too. Finally I wanted to try and show just how shit the stock pads are: The red line on the right hand pad, that's the edge of the foam and where the leather should start. It's off by some 5mm or so in the middle and the same on the other side. I'm not sure if the foam is simply rotated out of alignment or if it is cut incorrectly but the pads are sealed so no way to simply peel them open like the older pads. Both pads are also crooked and just cheap crap. Stax you can do so much better...

Carina Messier - Nowhere And No When. Lovely dream-pop with a tiny Psych injection. The band behind her (some? all?) are members of The Lost Patrol, a band an acquaintance manages/managed. Example:

4 Hours of Imola - race highlights (European Le Mans Series):

Like him or not, Max is a legend. https://youtu.be/d5wyPynDBxc?si=vq7t9GhkhBA9uPko

🫐 🥞

Re: The 'old guard', that's the theory.. in practice, well, it's never quite been implemented (lest we factor in certain companies that literally took what came before them but wasn't patented and re-made it with cheaper mats [and a worse audible outcome!]). I can only give younger generations kudos and salutations in 3 sectors and 3 sectors alone: - Speaker/headphone drivers, cartridges and tonearms. And all 3 came with direct consequences. Not the thread to expand on that though. As to ES labs specifically? - I'm still waiting for the "new" electrostatic that has the magic the old STAXes did; think Hayashi's time. Thinner diaphragms and unicorn dust fused diaphragms aside, the magic was lost after 1995. Slight, occasional, strictly technical improvements aside, they were also noticeably dryer, up to a lot, downright clinical in recent all out efforts; and noticeably forward/direct, all of them. Compare the original Lambda nrm/pro to anything releasing after '95. Folks don't seem to get it the way i do maybe, but part of what made STAX what it was? Was that magical character. Never since, other makers like ES labs included. If you've heard a decent pair of OG Lambdas or Sigmas (non-arced, non-imbalanced, driven well but not obscenely well), you know what i'm talking about. It was never about the outmost fidelity; never. It was about the character. Which's been lacking ever since. ES didn't tick that mark either. Was lucky to "get" one from the usual channels, would have regretted paying for it personally. - And at 2K a pop? With Chinese manufacturing costs? You're kidding me? Do forgive me for not crowning the man as a "savior", of anyone's. Yes? *2K for the cans+shipping mind. Customs fees on top, lest we neglect. Say 2.5K a pop? So no, i don't do see where ES Labs "comes in" to save the day. Unless of course we yet again go back to "i -personally- can". An ever-decreasing niche of individuals. And again, it lacks the magic the old STAXes did. Not even close, sorry.

More the weekend, but we got a fatty mass surgically removed from the doggo, but 2 nights in of course she rips out the stitches AND her drain tube (and most likely ate it lol) requiring her to go back in and get stapled but as you can see she is doing well 🤣

Found in France. Maybe you can be Flattop Steve!

Job done. Great day, some hurtful winds but survived.

I've seen a similar setup in the dungeon of a leather bar back in the early 80s. Most likely for a different purpose though.

Holy shit. One of my closest friends from college was murdered not far from where she lived. Sunny was one of the toughest people I've ever met. I can scarcely process this.

I felt a bit hopeful after the X1 release as it was a large step up from the L300 but the first one failing like that did sour it for me bit. Still they are nice enough for the price even if the ES-1x does the same idea much better. Granted at twice the price but more comfortable and far better build quality. As an update on the 007S, I've used them a lot over the last couple of days and they are not "gelling" for me at all. On some material they are just fine but not so much on other songs. I always have this feeling it is a superficial look into the music, it lacks the depth of the older units and the SR-Omega. Voices have this 2D feeling to them and not 3D as they should be. It is subtle thing but apparent after a few hours. Detail is also simply not there that is readily apparent on a Mk1 or 007A. Transients have an edge to them that is just annoying with some material, loud crescendos bite way too hard for no reason. I'm still on the Kennerton pads as the stock pads still smell awful after letting them sit with air blowing over them. I might try some refurbished 007Mk1 pads or have something custom made....

RIP to Julian McMahon (left). I enjoyed him in Nip/Tuck, and remembered he had a part in Red. Secret battle with cancer, it seems. https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/04/entertainment/julian-mcmahon-death