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I was today years old when I found out there’s not only a King (aka Eastern King) and California King, but also Wyoming King, Texas King, and Alaskan King size mattresses. 😵‍💫 https://sleepopolis.com/guides/bed-size-dimensions/

Within my PLOWED whisky group we have an annual gathering called Ardbeggeddon (which some know about). It takes place in an undisclosed location. Many years ago this became known as "Dick Cheney's Secret Bunker" as a joke for posting purposes. I have proposed to the group that the location should be changed to "Dick Cheney's Crypt".

It always 1969 (nice) in Alaska. Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

I have that on vinyl. Brings me to tears every time I listen to it.

Time for a (celebratory?) rewatch?

Maybe you can use a photo from his Vice Presidential Library?

One update on my ailing SR-X1, I went in one last time and coated them again and that seems to have done the trick. No imbalance at all and just some mild buzzing from the driver as some debris got in there. I might go in and try to clean it but yeah... that's the good news. Now for the bad one as I'm afraid the X1's are not long for this world. So this was the first time I took the driver fully apart and whoever designed this needs to go and look at how Stax used to be made. I've never seen them do this before but the diaphragm is only attached to one ring, not sandwiched between two of them. So the spacers they use (also the insulation from the stators) are different from one side to the other. The side with the metal ring is very thin indeed, probably 0.2mm or so. I didn't want to snap a picture as the whole thing is so fragile but yeah, the diaphragm is hanging on 2-2.5mm or so of metal spacer and mine was already lifting off the ring as the PEEK seemingly doesn't adhere well to it. I'm sure I didn't cause this and it is very worrying as they have so small a support for the film. I have some SR-X NB diaphragms here and there they used 4mm spacers and glued on both sides for a much smaller diaphragm. That means the films are still just fine after 50 years in service which I doubt will be case for the X1's. I for one don't see an issue with gluing just one side as I do the same on my DIY drivers, but the contact area has to be bigger and mylar behaves differently to PEEK. Right now this set works fine but I'll continue to monitor it and I'd like to know if anybody else has had these issues. I finally got around to watching this and a few interesting bits, they are clearly still making 009 drivers as they were pulled out of a drawer in the soaking oven even through they are long out of production. Odd that they don't swap them out with 009S drivers as they have done with every other model. I did roll my eyes when only 30 X9000 drivers could be tested by one person... sure... why not I found it interesting that they test the drivers like that, as the reflection off the table is surely messing up the test by loading one side of the driver differently. I always thought they would slot them into jigs with microphones on each side as this way makes no sense to me. Btw. I feel their museum severely lacking... I know a few people who have a lot more Stax stuff in their collection than that.

As Kim Kardashian’s All’s Fair sets a new low for TV, we revisit every single thing our critics have mercilessly panned. Brace yourself for the Mount Rushmore of rubbish! The Guardian has only ever published 15 zero-star reviews. Here they all are... https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/nov/05/the-guardian-has-only-ever-published-15-zero-star-reviews-here-they-all-are

Hand Cannot Erase by Steven Wilson (2015) https://open.qobuz.com/album/gq9emxrfbaxdb Example: So a friend shared a list of top 25 audiophile albums. Most would be what you would expect, but there were a few I didn't know, so I gave them a listen. This is a good prog album. Audiophile? No. But very good. I have heard a few things from Wilson, I will be checking out a few more.

Famous Blue Raincoat. Songs of Leonard Cohen by Jennifer Warnes (1986) https://open.qobuz.com/album/0826663104905 Example: Very well recorded Jennifer.

Same. That song. Just...so bleak. The video is amazing. I really love "Ancestral" off that album. Learned that huge riff in the middle. Mikey, I recommend The Raven That Refused to Sing and Other Stories next. PS Your friend obviously has excellent taste.

We are so thoroughly doomed as a species.

Using a Star Wars reference Dick Cheney is/was Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sideous), Rumsfeld was Darth Vader and Trump is Kylo Ren (A pale imitation wannabe of Vader). Just Sayin’

35 minute in and I don't even have a dishwasher (well... me, but still) But I will share with friends/family that have struggles with dishwasher performance.

I can't recommend it yet. I had to send it to a third party to rebuild the power supply.

Who knew that the Billie Eilish / Cardi B of Israel would have a cool music video set in a woodshop? I didn't until tonight. I also found this Succulent Sessions video of several songs, starting with Cipi that includes the great line "You think you are the boss of me? But most the time you're my bitch."

While being stuck home, recovering for the past two weeks, I finally got round to doing some more DIY electrostatic headphones. I wanted to try out some different materials, 2um mylar and Comfort fabric softener to do the resistive coating. I must say both worked well and if the Comfort stuff holds up long term, it is a damn good coating that costs pretty much nothing. First off my long standing test drivers in a Superlux HD330 housing... as I had some donor headphones in stock. I made a few of these but this set has the Stax wide PC-OCC cable and Dekoni Fostex hybrid pads. I've made so many of these drivers over the years that they are a good benchmark and they perform flawlessly. Charge up instantly, no charge migration or issue with humidity that I can detect. The drivers are also modular so easy to assemble and test: I didn't even spring for ENIG on these but yeah, super simple design that just slots into the Supelux housing. They are just a bit on the small side for my head and the partially closed housing has issues but it's a fun set to play with. Next up is a set of SR-5's that had severe imbalance. Time for a new set of diaphragms with the thicker spacers I made 10 years ago or. I simply replace the stock diaphragm and this converts them to Pro bias too. Throw on there an old Lambda cable which had a break at the cable entry and it's a great little set of headphones. I love the SR-X Mk3 drivers and they are fun to play with. It is a bit challenging to fit the thicker spacers into the normal bias housings as it can warp the drivers but not a big deal really. Then I put on some leather earpads from my stash and yeah, a great SR-5 Pro... something Stax really should have sold back in the day. While I was making the diapgragms for those SR-5's, I made a couple of more for a spare set of drivers which resulted in this: I'm always on the lookout for cheap open back headphones which can be "easily" turned into electrostatics. This is a Fiio JT1 which was less than 60$ shipped but is not ideal for the conversion as the baffle is not flat due to how the earpads are mounted. Still nothing a circular saw can't fix: I covered the stock holes with tape to seal the baffle and keep the glue out when I fitted the driver: The PU two part adhesive covers all the baffle vents and I put some tape on the earpad attachment points to just keep the glue out of them. Worked just fine and the seal is great No damping at the back and they are open enough. I fitted strain reliefs at the cable entry and plugs to seal off the top vents in the housing as well. This one has the stock earpads and the cable is the standard silicone 6 core stuff floating around with an aluminum cable splitter for the Y split and a prototype plug I was sent a while back. Pretty nice sounding set of headphones that don't cost a lot to make. Granted you need a SR-X Mk3 to donate the drivers and some custom spacers to make it work but I'd want to make something like this with custom drivers. It would be a great DIY project to release, buy this set of headphones, rip out its guts and make your own drivers from these PCB's. The cable is easy to source, so are the cable entry glands and a Stax plug can be 3D printed with basic XLR housings. Finally, a bit of a closure for me with what is probably the final version of the HD580/600/650 electrostatic conversion above. I was always battling baffle leaks on those as it is impossible to shave the stock baffle completely flat. I might try to laser cut a neoprene gasket or something like that but on this one I simply designed a new protection grill and glued that to the baffle. Not ideal but it works nicely. Then new stators and new spacers for the diaphragms and dust covers. The cable is the King Sound KS-H4 unit so it is removable. I just shaved down the socket a bit and glued it into the stock holes. The protection grill which is glued to the baffle. Earpads are the hybrid units Drop used to sell and then sheepskin headpad. New stators with full ENIG plating and purple solder mask because reasons. :) These do sound great if I dare say so myself, very much on par with the HE60 but with a fuller sound. Same spacing at 0.5mm so sensitivity is very close too to stock Senn units. Funny for me as the HD600 was my first ever high end set of headphones, so when I found this set with broken drivers it was an ideal candidate for conversion. Full circle and all that shit...

Great video for all you Stax fans. Very rare insight which actually shows proper parts of the factory

Finally! Took delivery today.