Leaderboard

Here I was thinking I was going to have a productive day... I didn't take any pics of the wooden boxes but they are very nice though my EX-1a box was branded as ES-2a... no matter. First off is the ES-2a and I went for the "Omega look" in terms of color. My ES-1a is all black so made sense to separate them in the collection. I like the color a lot, the finish isn't quite perfect but having been through the hell of trying to get perfect anodizing... yeah I understand that. I'm happy the outer screen has mesh in it now as that's a large part of why the Omegas sound the way they do, not that this is a copy of the Omega. I mean not really... The earpads are very nice and supple, concave similar to the newer Audeze LCD pads. A closer look at the driver face and those lover copper stators. The dust covers come with the set and I did install them as I like to keep dust out of all of my headphones. Might have some slight impact on the sound but who cares. I ordered the set with the regular cable but Benson upgraded me to the Stax Wide PC-OCC cable free of charge so thanks for that. The fit and finish of these is excellent, better than the ES-1a and that was no slouch. My main issue with them was the lack of strain relief on the headphones for the cable but that has been fixed here. EX-1a: I was pleasantly surprised when Benson told me that there would also be a cheaper version coming in the form of the EX-1a as ~1k$ headphones are sorely needed. Clearly been in the works long before Stax introduced the X1 but a take on the same Stax SR-1/2/3/3N/5/5N and X design but with much better build quality than the X1. The earcups are actually fixed to the headband and made of aluminum, not needing the new Stax mod of placing some tape over the X1 forks on new units as they won't stay in place. Very nice, all leather, earpads and it looks like leather on the headband as well. Very nice cable entry, made of soft "rubber like" material. Same plug on both sets (this has the basic 6core cable which seems to be perfectly serviceable but more on that when I get some time with them) and it is a mixture of the same rubber-like material and 3D printed end piece. Works perfectly. Now for some impressions. I've just about had an hour since I got them and spent it on the ES-2a and all I can say is... I've very, very impressed. Very neutral sound signature, a bit laid back (as if you are a couple of rows back from the performance) with a large and expansive soundstage. No lack of focus here though, they conjure a very solid stage but it's just a step back from say a 007. Very Omega like really... Treble is nice and extended, not the mess of the Stax 009 and X9000, just as detailed though . Midrange is excellent, voices have the right presence without being too forward. The bass is tight and deep, only small issue I've found would be a bit of a lack of extreme deep bass and some slight resonance in the bass on certain tracks. Nothing I worry about and I'd take these over the Stax 009's or X9000 any day of the week. I'll try the EX-1a when I can take these off my head dig my only working X1 out of storage to compare against it.

What I haven't mentioned yet is the other big change in my life. That's a career change. The company that I've worked for the last 7 years has had less and less work for me. And the last job I did for them had 137 stair steps from the street to the job site. And there was rarely parking anywhere near the stairs leading to the job. On top of that, the homeowners insisted that we load our tools up daily, because they were afraid the tools would cause a break-in, which they were worried would lead to vandalism. So I was lugging many, many tools up and down those miserable stairs every day. Some tools quite large and heavy. I was having dizzy spells that I assumed at the time was related to the ascending climb as well as my ascending age. I've since discovered that my Hypertension meds needed to be adjusted, and I'm feeling better now. However, I've decided to try a career change. This old dog is trying to learn a new trick. I turned in my Resume to the local Fairfax Lumber store about a month ago, and was surprised when the cashier rushed myself and my resume back to the President of the company immediately. As it happened, they were looking for a new hand at the lumber desk. They needed someone to revive the tanking contractor sales. The President got a bit excited as he read my resume, then offered me the job on the spot. I accepted. I started a few days later, but on my first real day of work, I started having really bad dizzy spells after simply stocking shelves. I thought I was going to pass out, and my vision was getting blurry as well. It shook me up, and I had to tell the President that I couldn't complete the day. The good news was that the next day I went to see my Doctor, at the insistence of Al and Dorothy, for which I'm very grateful. The Dr. was pretty sure immediately that the issue was low blood pressure. That was caused by the 3 meds I was taking for Hypertension working too well. Partly due to an over 20 lb. recent weight loss. Anyway it was a relatively easy fix, except she told me that I needed to be as inactive as possible for two weeks while the deletion of one of the meds cleared my system. Not the best timing, with a brand new job and a big move happening. But I'm the guy that has the most incredible friends imaginable! Al, Dorothy, Dorothy's friend Gavin and Dorothy's Mom Rini moved my entire apartment to my new place. Cleaned my old apartment (no small feat), and insisted that I chill and do as little as possible. I can tend to freak out a bit when things come at me hard. Al has this incredible way of calming me down and making me see what's possible, instead of what's impossible. And I don't usually make that easy! After my session with Dr. Al, I went and talked to the President of Fairfax Lumber, explained my medical situation and the two weeks off that I needed. He agreed to give me that time and a bit more to complete the move. I just completed my first week on the job yesterday. It's going great! My experience as a carpenter is definitely crossing over. I've been able to solve customer's project questions, am learning my way around the myriad of goods that we sell and above all the boss is impressed. At closing yesterday he pulled me aside and told me how happy he was that my health issue has improved, and how happy he is with my knowledge and customer service. The last guy they hired in my position was there only a few weeks, then died of a heart attack. So I understand his relief. Well it seems I've created another marathon post, but just wanted to fill you in and express my gratitude for friendships I clearly don't deserve, but will do my utmost to repay!

Change of Command is this week, which means I get my 4th boss in three years (FML) so I decided I'd fabricobble the command gift. The outgoing skipper is a Navy diver who has a penchant for clapping to build morale. So I decided that I needed to work all that into the gift. So the rough motif is a replica Navy diving bell mounted to a plaque with our command logo and major project logos engraved into brass coins. but the kicker is that the helmet sits on an LED base that lights up and yes, can be controlled by a Clapper.

Slight health scare. Went down with the "cold from hell" in October last. And it seemed to come back four or five times over the next 5 months. Feeling wrecked most of the time. Considered Covid, so took a test - negative. Eventually made an appointment, and saw the Trauma nurse at the practice. Put a blood oxygenation clip on, and sounded my chest "It sounds really rattley ". So packed into one morning in mid March, I ended up with a course of kick ass antibiotics, a full spectrum blood test, and a chest X-ray. Saw the Trauma nurse again yesterday. Antibiotics worked wonders, so the problem must have been an opportunistic bacteria had moved in. Blood test was all nominal (who knew there were 5 different kinds of white blood cell; not me), and chest X-ray was completely clear. So finally after 5 months of recurring misery, I'm finally firing on all cylinders again! Back in the gym, leading 14 mile walks, and running. Happy days!

Cheering on the people we know in Paris. On the left, our friend and Lance's former coach. The gold medal fencer on the right is "Greg" Cheung. Most importantly, both men like my tri-tip BBQ and 12-hour short rib tacos. Little known Olympic fact...

My friend and former secretary has asked me -- and now Steve -- to build some cabinets for a pantry area next to the kitchen at her new house. That project will take a while to percolate but I decided to build here a kitchen island in the meantime to replace a table she has been using to expand her counter space. Her cabinets have a dark cherry stain so at first I was going to go paint grade to avoid clashing. Rooting around the shop, however, I found enough figured maple boards for the main pieces and thought that would fit well so I went for it. I had to buy the prefab butcher block top and maple 1x3s for the slats below, but all the other maple and one plywood for the drawers and cabinet bottom were in the shop. It's hard to tell from the photos but the figuring on the cabinet and drawer fronts is really pretty. She wanted a knife drawer and another for large cooking utensils, so that's what she got. The knife blocks are maple with non tarnishing felt. Very happy with the results, except that I don't love the coloring of the butcher block. Terri loves it but may not be able to use it fully until she can get over the idea of marring it. 😂

Did a little "audio therapy" last weekend with an audio buddy. Visited one of my 2 favorite dealers and did some nice listening to YG Acoustics....have loved their stuff for years.

Actually yesterday, but visited the DeYoung Museum for the last day of the Tamara de Lempicka exhibit. Amazing work. These are just a few of the paintings exhibited...

Thanks! It's a bit strange, because I'm used to being the guy that's 100% confident in his abilities on the job. But it's good to shake things up now and then. Also, there's a local carpenter named Jack that has done lots of work on Al's Fairfax house. In 2013 I worked with him on a bathroom remodel above the garage (Frank's old place). And he also saw me building some stuff for Al and Claire. Well on Friday he came into Fairfax Lumber, saw me working there and inquired about that. Augie (the president) started to introduce him to me, and Jack told him that we had worked together several years back. He also said that I could build anything and that I was the best carpenter he'd ever worked with. Not only did that make me feel great, it seemed to impress the boss even more. There's a guy who rents space from Fairfax Lumber who builds furniture on site. His name is Dean. Dean was also standing there, and told Augie to be careful or he'd steal me away from him. Just nice to be recognized for something I put decades of passion into.

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 🤣

Yesterday we went to a picnic put on by the Ligue Henri IV, which was a fraternal organization to support men and their families from the southwest of France for over 100 years until last year when membership was opened to women as well. I've been a member since I was 14 years old (age of admission) and my siblings and kids are all For the picnic, the Ligue provides grilled lamb and loaves of French bread for the princely sum of $5.00 per person. The members and guests bring the rest of their meals and beverages. I should have shown you the two trays of lamb we had -- a whole leg and multiple large racks of ribs -- along with six large loaves. It was excellent lamb and perfectly grilled.

Three weeks later, here is the outcome. A single enclosure all-in-one with GRHV and GRLV with high voltage and heater soft-start. The 10M90S is attached to the side wall, and thanks to the large size of the metal, the temp is about 104℉(40 ℃) after 1 hour. The only thing is I made the mistake of the main soft start module(the one on the power outlet), which makes it only functional when you use the back power switch. In this way, I keep the front power switch on all the time to avoid the ripple current. Still have a huge room to be improved. Planning to add a DC power supply for the heater for the DHT version, as well as the flashing soft start indicator.

Wasn't sure the best place to post, but this is pretty cool. Chris is my nephew, he is brilliant (as is my niece, they met at MIT). https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-astronaut-chris-williams-assigned-to-first-space-station-mission

going to look at it in a few minutes. should be ground i think. nope, thats the feedback on the output. and the gerber file is correct. not sure where you got that picture, probably here, and likely not done. 3 of the other versions had the same error, all are updated on the google shares. no idea how that happened. someone needs to go thru all 9 versions (or more) to see if there are any more errors. i'm kind of busy waxing my brand new 2025 corvette Z06 3lz htc.

my year of continuing to do things that I probably should pay for, but can’t bring myself to continues. Today’s adventure was rehabilitating my malfunctioning water heater. For $135 in parts I was able to replace all of the active and passive internals and upon reassembly, it didn’t leak and produced hot water. it only took two trips to the hardware store so I view that as a win as well. I figure I saved myself at least 500 bucks today.

Decided to bike to vacation.

All this deferred resignation stuff has meant the departure of a few key staff members, one in particular I've worked with for nearly 15 years and deserved something more than an Irish goodbye. So I made him a little something for his retirement yesterday. That's the blank walnut, engraved/machined with the cnc machine. Finish applied, awaiting infill bits. Finished project. The middle bit is an original survey boundary marker for the island that I rescued from a demo project. It's likely way more than 100 years old. I thought he deserved to take a little piece of the place with him even if it's a little tarnished and scarred. I prefer things that way actually, probably because I resemble the description.

Back at work today, feeling way better.

Today is the day that we bury my brother Tom, which is a hard sentence to type. In keeping with my family's tradition of over-long obituaries, and given the scope of his impressive career, we have created a website to post a memorial to Tom, along with some photos. You even get to see a sullen 12 or 13 year old Voltron on the steps of Congress with Tom and then congressman Leon Panetta whom Tom was interning for. Penetta later was director of OMB, White House chief of staff, CIA director and Secretary of Defense. Obituaries have appeared in AdWeek and other publications, as well as his former agency, but I am not sure which newspapers will run one or even already have run one. For anyone interested here are a few links: https://bedecarre.family/ https://www.adweek.com/agencies/akqa-co-founder-tom-bedecarre-has-died/ https://www.akqa.com/news/a-lasting-legacy/

Al told me to stop building things. For variety's sake, Andrew and I emptied the bank account last weekend to go see the defending NBA champs. Was a lot of fun, got to see an OT buzzer beater from Tatum on our end of the court. Was a good dude's night out.

Continuing the theme of "fix shit yourself" I completed the two week journey that was bringing a Ryobi One+ battery back to life. It had sat (incorrectly) on a charger for too long and discharged itself to the point where it could no longer be charged. I suspected the batter was fine. Problem one - it has one effing torx safety screw so a quick shopping trip to Amazon for IFIXIT's smallest kit with the right bit and the chassis was opened. From there I could check the cells, see that none were shorted they just all had very low voltage. Problem two - how do you trick the charger into thinking the battery is ok? A few YouTube videos and some hacking of wire later and I was able to float the battery up to ~13V which was enough to get the charger to recognize it and fully recharge the battery. Sure, I spent $15 on the torx bit but I didn't put an otherwise functional battery in a land fill. I call that a win.

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

Sorry but i have weakness for the Western Electric horns

Well, they have arrived: First off, they smell terrible. I don't know what they are using in those new earpads but it smells awful, deep and nasty chemical smell. Might be the foam but yeah... this isn't great. Now for the new arc... ehhh it's alright. The fitment is similar to the old one and it does the job. I have the same problem as with all other 007's though, it's too wide for my rather gigantic head so I'll need to bend it bit to make it taller. Small thing and I'll get to check out how it is to manhandle it a bit. Now for the sound... I'm only a few tracks in but initial impressions were not great. Way too boomy but it settled down when I pressed the top of the drivers towards the head, hence the arc issue I always have. The port is gone though so get the fitment right and the bass should be just fine. In terms of tone they are not as bad as the X9000 or 009S, more forward than the 007A with a port mod though and the excellent depth perception of the older models might be lacking here. Not sure, need to do some listening but the sound is certainly more "in your face" than the older ones. They don't seem to have the resolution of the older one either, this is on my usual Denafrips Terminator and Carbon CC setup, and I have this distinct feeling that something is lacking. Now I know how all of the 007's sound like the back of my hand and detail that should be there... just isn't. It's subtle though. Sound stage is just fine but I have this nagging sensation that it isn't as precise as a nice 007Mk1 or Mk2/A. The sound is also not as smooth and balanced as the older ones. Push it with something demanding (now I'm playing Knopfler - Going Home) and this isn't brilliant. The whole fun bit about this song is to crank it a bit in volume once it gets going and it kinda falls apart, becomes harsh and grading while loosing cohesion. A good 007Mk1 can play this at stupid volume levels on this setup and no problems at all. Sorry for the stream of consciousness but I just wrote what came to mind. Overall... this is a much better effort than the X9000 though and time will tell how I get on with them. Not talking about burn in... that shit doesn't exist. Finally I grabbed the nearest 007 which just happened to be a Mk2.9 007A for comparison: The structure is clearly very different but I'll have to investigate further later on. Finally, that stench from the earpads is driving me fucking nuts!!

Progress report

A day late, but I moved. No longer in MAGA Warren county. Much relief, shoulder and neck tension down, anxiety down, blood pressure down, much relief...

I went outside today. Chopped some wood, smoked my churchwarden pipe, had a Fremont beer.... So that is what a blue sky looks like. ... cool 😎

I moved into the new place this weekend. Moving sucks, but hopefully that was the last move I need to make in a good while.

I think season 2 is better than 1...It could be the addition of a new writer...MY SISTER!...

Aumkar came to see me in Bangkok and let me try his INOX. It sounded really nice.

Yesterday, removed half the sod to clear a 14' x 16' tract of land. For context, that took about two and half hours. This morning, continued to remove sod to clear the rest of the area. Took about an hour since I'd already used the edger to cut the sod into roughly 1' square pieces. Project then moved from demolition to construction, which involved raking and grading the area. Then moved approximately 5,000# of crushed stone by hand along with installing permeable paving forms to make Lily a parking space beside the driveway. Grandma and grandpa chipped in. The somewhat rough finished project. I did a bit more raking/sweeping to level it out and smooth the high spots. The paver box-out in the back is for an irrigation control valve that was annoyingly just at the edge of the excavation.

Not today, but Thursday night, the northern lights made a return visit. Quite visible to the naked eye this time with pretty striking red and green hues across the whole night sky. Wild to see in southern New England. Today, replaced the rear brakes on the Volvo which my mechanic had said were "metal on metal". That was a slight exaggeration but the pads were down to the wear bars so it was time. The rotors actually looked pretty good (essentially no lip) but decided that it made sense to do them while I was in there since I already had the parts. I did not end up doing the fronts as they still have a good 1.5mm to the wear bar and the rotors look fine as well. I'll keep the parts on hand and plan on doing them next spring summer depending on how inspection goes in March.

Prepping for homecoming tailgate on Friday. Made a batch of cheddar jalapeño and maple apple havarti sausage. Pair of prime briskets ready roll.

So if you have been in the Drinks 2024 thread (where I live) you know that we had three University events on Thursday and Friday. One was the Women Kicking Glass Gala where Karen and I had to wear our Prom outfits

Beautiful day. I've had my best times in the toughest sections and I have stayed right behind the car that opens the race all the time even in the toughest stages...so I'm happy. This year has been a real piece of shit

The landlord seemed baffled at the size of "the stereo" for a 400 s.f. apartment. "Stereo? Oh no, that's just the video system. The stereo is still packed in boxes." These non audiophiles. They're so odd. Yes, that's a woodburning stove behind. Something I'll never use. Still have my Alaskan blood. Never used the heat in my last place in 7 years. I do have a few electric heaters if needed, but pretty sure they'll gather dust too.

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.

This past weekend I went up to my Maine condo. Met up with an Audio friend for lunch in Portland, then worked my way South back to the condo. I ended up talking non-highway routes (Rt 1), and made stops coincidentally at several places Karen and I visited last Fall when we did a similar trip. Was both sad and wonderful, good memories but emptier without her. For anyone travelling to Southern Maine, some fun foodie places: The Cheese Iron in Scarborough - https://www.thecheeseiron.com/ Holy Donut in Portland and Scarborough (and a smaller location right near my condo!) - https://www.theholydonut.com/ Len Libby Candy shop Scarborough and home of Lenny the Chocolate Moose - https://www.lenlibby.com/ Maine is a beautiful state, lots of great small towns near and off the water. When we would go up, we'd literally feel the stress wash off and our shoulders relax as we crossed the bridge from NH into Maine. Gratuitous pic of Lenny the Moose.....

Took a Boat To The City Saw some controversial art. SF prices? Walked to a tech conference, where the zeitgeist is not just AI, but agentic AI. With phat/sick beats. And the expected A/V kit. Had a tech demo from a CEO, as one does. No need to be alarmed, citizen. Your timer starts now ... The conference ended with a nerd get together ( Code Block Party) Then some San Franciso Street Life And a First Thursday Gathering with one of many Waymos. Then back past the art, In time to catch the Last Ferry back a busy, but enjoyable day

The cats broke the glass lamp in our entryway, so I needed a non-glass replacement. Similar to a design I made a few years ago, but smaller and with some refinements.

Claire and I ended up joining Steve's steak dinner and there was still too much food! Everything was delicious.

Just had a fantastic Birthday dinner at Rancho Nicasio with my four favorite people, Al, Claire, Dorothy and Corrine.

Finally able to venture outside to repair some minor storm damage. Rain and cooler weather brought a nice change. During fires After the rain

Last night my new landlord brought me a rotisserie chicken from Costco. So tonight I made chicken/green chili enchiladas. I also made a blueberry cobbler that I delivered to said landlord. She was very surprised, but one good deed deserves another. Didn't take pics.

Today's work is all done, ended up detecting a hardware failure as well that required brief downtime to replace it. Everything is up and running normally now

I was on a boat That crossed the bay To "The City" Where we had a guided tour by a retired lawyer of the TJPA/Salesforce Transit Center and Rooftop Gardens Then saw some art And took the new subway (only $1.9B) to Chinatown, for their night market. And then a short rest* Before taking the ferry home again. *The more eagle eyed of you will spot the token foreground interest, bottom right.

Saw a few lights….🙂

In Vik, Iceland. Stopped at Black Crust Pizza and had….Black Crust Pizza! It’s not burnt….that’s the color and it was decent tasting. Karen agreed it was very good, but not NY (or CT?) good. Glad we went

Just got home from work. I've got pasta cooking on the stove and Aretha cookin' on the stereo. Life's good!