Leaderboard

Whiskey Donuts. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Every now and then I receive emails where people want free review samples or some stupid shit like that. Now then this gem showed up today: I just like the blatant offer to offer promotion and clearly a glowing review for a measly 45% discount... My reply is below... Kevin told me not to be too harsh... I think it went ok.

Pork Belly burger at the Next Whiskey Bar. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Troll? Me? I have no idea what you're talking about! (BTW, a little too much sun today. I was squinting.)

Naaman's meals on wheels! Awesome

Chiming in a bit late, just got back from vacation; glad you got to hear them Jacob. To some extent I agree with Jacob's impressions, there are several aspects of the sound & music that some other phones do better. For me, Soundstage is the biggest drawback of the Utopia's...especially coming from the Senn 800's. And the shear envelopment of a good Stax system (SR-007II and Mjolnir Carbon for me) edges out the Utopia for me. Where my findings - and personal taste - differ are a few as well: first and foremost, transparency. I hear things in basically all frequencies up through, say ~13-14kHz, that I have had trouble hearing with many other phones, at least dynamics. And in many recordings I do hear into the room, at least if the recording is good. And within that smaller soundstage, I think the ability to pick apart individual voices & instruments is still great. Lastly, while I DO hear some possible frequency variations, I don't hear a midrange honk to the level that Jacob describes. Where the Utopia still stays my favorite dynamic is in the total cohesive package. It delivers transparent and pretty balanced sound to these ears, to the point that the package ends up being better than the individually-analyzed parts. That said, my Senn 800 and 600 are both staying around as well. FWIW, my system has been either the Exogal Comet or the Denafrips Ares driving a loaner ECP DSHA-2; great match for the Utopia, and a DSHA-3 customized for low output impedance will come next. I still like the Mjolnir/Stax combo the best, so that is staying with the Exogal, my favorite DAC.

Pork nachos.

Marched for science with the wife and daughter, friend, and fellow geeks. Funniest moment was running into my daughter's 5th grade teacher last year with her partner who was carrying a sign with the following elements and words: Flourine Uranium Carbon Potassium Trump/Spence

I'd support this venture.

I think it just comes down to what is important to the listener. I like fairly brutal honesty. The Utopia is definitely, well, Utopian. I want my shit to sound like shit! The RS-1 is a pretty major departure from that, but they just click for me. I don't know why.

A certain someone made a great effort to ensure I didn't fly hungry

Test Tone @ Home live right now: http://mixlr.com/illuminator/chat

.

Brisket as a deductable business expense?

I like the way Skooby attachs the heat sinks. It’s a Fischer SK 81 - 100 x 37.5 x 15 mm. Found it at a local dealer. Cut it in two halves and it fitted quite nicely. I also use an aluminum net for top cover. Heat sink or nor the heat has get out of the cabinet. At 74 degree Celsius the PTZA06 is good for some 450 mW.

John Updike - Rabbit Run I read this on my trip. Given how burnt out and listless I was feeling before I left, it seemed appropriate. Some random thoughts: Updike is a smarter man that I will ever be. He wrote this book when he was 28 and was able to change the tone of American literature. I don't know why, but being in the presence of a genius like this makes me feel like shit. Part of what makes a great writer is a great eye and keen powers of observation. Updike's skill in first seeing, then making the connections in written words that the mind makes when in deep examination is as mesmerizing as his beautiful prose. As if I, or anyone needed a reminder, Rabbit is a lesson of how we all need to be more considerate of others. When we act only at the whim of what we feel, we can cause great, lasting pain. Rabbit, Run reads like a reaction to the superficiality and repression of more animal instincts so inherent and central to mid-20th century modernism. Updike takes a deeper look and is unafraid and comfortable with bringing to light our baser, animistic desires that modernism is able to so effectively hide away. In this way, despite my love of modernism, Updike feels closer to "the truth." 5/5. I was blown away. Updike is a rightfully a literary giant and I look forward to reading the next book in the Rabbit series.

Stage 2 totals for shipping have been posted for those with the larger envelopes. I'll post the rest tonight. Paypal is

Bolton's Spicy Chicken and Fish. Mild/Medium/Hot A celebrity got the Whiting in Medium Skinny Michael Moore is a Montgomery Biscuits Fan **BRENT**

the copper ground straps are a bit of overkill. definitely make sure all the tab transistors are flat to the heatsink

GRLV +14.99 -14.98V GRHV +419.98 -419.89V getting very very close

Listening now -- I fell asleep almost immediately after checking in last night at self

I guess this program has been around a long time but tonight was my first time seeing Craft in America. If the rest are as good as the "Nature" episode, I've got a lot of inspiring shows to watch!

Well, they are the "split" version so yes, it's possible

Yup, big problem in the Northeast so one "expert" has told me. The White-Nose fungus spreads easily, kills hard..... At times when warm and wet winters lead to massive mosquito populations, bats would be a welcome addition for me.....

Sunwampta Falls, Jasper National Park. The Milky Way lining up with a gazebo lit with tea lights. Zabriskie Point, Manly Beacon. Tokyo. The dome-shaped Paekrokdam crater at the top of Mt. Halla. Perth, Western Australia. Mount St. Helens, Washington. Jones Lake in Vancouver B.C., Canada. The Colorado River as seen below Nankoweap in the Grand Canyon at night, Arizona. Mount Baker, WA under the Milky Way Galaxy. Sunrise by El Capitan, Yosemite National Park. Lehigh Gorge State Park PA. The Lapponian Gate in northern Sweden. Zion National Park, UT. Antelope Valley, California. Fjaðrárgljúfur, Iceland. Ohio after one of the first snowfalls. Sunrise at the Bay of Fires, Tasmania. Sequoia, CA. Upper North Falls - Silver Falls Oregon. Laguna Beach, CA. Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite NP, California. Raphael Ravenscroft Mural in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Bethlehem Steel, Pennsylvania. Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba. Balancing Rock, Arches NP. Canyonlands, Utah. Dents de Veisivi in Evolène, Switzerland. Minnesota. View from McAfee Knob, Catawba, VA. Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye. Piggtind, Norway. Three Fingers South, Washington USA. Sunset at Grand Canyon North Rim. Milford Sound, New Zealand. Sugarloaf Rock, Western Australia. The Channelled Scablands of central Washington. Cline River, Alberta. Grütschalp, Switzerland. Yosemite, CA. The milkyway in Maine. Muriwai Beach, New Zealand. Hinton AB. The Elephant at Cape Kiwanda Oregon. Celestial Wanaka. Whidbey Island, WA. Star Trails over Boynton Canyon, Sedona, AZ. Solheimasandur Plane Wreck Iceland. Super Milky. Badlands, Utah. Patagonia, Argentina. Angel's Landing View, Zion National Park, UT. Punch Bowl Falls Oregon. Penha Longa, Portugal. A panoramic view from a ridge located between Segla and Hesten mountain summits on the island of Senja, Troms, Norway by Simo Räsänen. Cliffs of Moher, Ireland. Click for slightly wider.

Steely Dan -- The Royal Scam

Okay I must have missed something. What the heck is BAI? The only super low thing I can think of is Brent's Annual Income.

If memory serves, at Nate's you can interact with bats.

They have nothing better to do than watch bats? Y'all can come to my place I have bats and cold beer...reservations required.

I'm sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for tonight's opening episode of this season's Fargo! I've loved the previous seasons. The show has attracted some great actors, Billy Bob Thornton, Marin Freeman, Colin Hanks or season 2; Patrick Wilson, Ted Danson, Kirsten Dunst and this season; Ewan McGregor x 2, Carrie Coon, and my current heart throb, Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I can't wait to see what the Coen's will produce.

Did some work on mocking up the chassis and getting into a more listenable state. I will need to get aluminum top/bottom and rear panels for this (not using the steel ones that it came with). I'm also still a bit concerned with how warm the buffer transistors run, and this is open air. Using a modified amb e12 protector board (with muting). I tested this to see if HF oscillation would trip it, and it did (12V ~70MHz with the feedback set to the mid FB point). Listening-wise, it is likely my favorite amp, even being single-ended. This thing has balls, and seems to open up the recording more than any other amp I have built or used. Since my SE DynaHi boards are a drop-in, I may take another listen to those as well, but from memory, the FET version stomps it. I am going to build up a GRLV for this, and will likely get a 50 or 100VA Antek trafo for it instead of the 120 or 160VA SumR I have in here (a bit in the HC overdo it fashion ).