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Brought Skittles home yesterday

Paid a lot of money for a condo. Final closing paperwork tomorrow. Son and his GF will do some painting and maybe minor work, then move in ~mid-August. Thinking/hoping a ring is next!!

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.

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!

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. 😂

In an effort to try and finish up some of the gigantic pile of projects, here is a fully DC/DC powered KGSSHV. The unit is close to 10 years old but not really used at all as it ended up at Kevin's with some transformer trouble. A couple of years ago I made an effort to bring all those amps home so I stripped it down for transport and the transformer went in the trash to save on weight. Then I found those lovely 400V DC/DC bricks, added one for 600V bias (with a bit of a trim and filtering) and one for +/-15V, all driven off a 90W 24VDC Meanwell brick. I had to lower the output stage current a bit from stock and there is a tiny bit of coil whine coming from those HV supplies but it works well. The B+ supply is the hottest part in there at 60°C.

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...

IMG_3921.mov

Brother came up this morning on his way to his place in NH. Dropped off 2 bottles of Ardbeg 25, plus additional surprises! The Ardbeg 25's come in a lovely Russian Doll type box set, the inner box has a nice metal design on it. The top of that inner box looks to click open and close on a hinged cover. The Smokiverse is another limited edition, this was an open bottle from a sampling day that one of his clients had. Looking forward to trying it, there's only a tiny bit left.

Next up on "doing good shit for family" agenda: just gifted Karen's car (2018 Toyota RAV4) to my nephew and niece. Came up in a conversation last night that my brother was helping the kids look for a car. I asked what they were interested in, and based on his reply offered it up. Filled out the title paperwork and tax exemption for gift (though depending on blue book value I may have to pay a bit for being over the gift threshold). Kids came by and grabbed it today. The payback is "future considerations," but after chatting a bit my brother will get me a pair of Ardbeg 25 bottles he recently scrounged up at work. Yum!

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.

Progress report

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.

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!!

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...

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.

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

With temps in the high 50s and storms rolling through after mile 30 we decided that bit over 70 miles was the smart play. Despite 2-1/2hrs in heavy rain still was a great event for an even better cause.

Pre-fiber: Post-fiber: Eat your fiber boys....

Time for a necro bump but this arrived a couple of weeks ago: Naturally I bought them used as I always wanted to try these and well... they are some of the worst headphones ever made. Seriously... this is so fucking bad it isn't even funny. Now they barely fit my head so that might be a factor but they are somehow very peaky and dull sounding at the same time. Open baffle and all that but the sound is just all over the place. I'm sure these would benefit greatly from an adjustable arc setup and some earpads to close them up. Maybe something like the PMB units, an L-shaped pads at the back of the ears. At the same time I got these, I refurbished what might be the most disgusting SR-Sigma I've ever seen (though the drivers were fine), and they are much better in ever way. Super soundstage, nice extension at both ends of the spectrum and they just sound lovely off a SRM-313. Now I naturally had to rip the Transdyn box apart and well... It doesn't start well, this is the power switch. Yeah... one trace of something conductive and all hell would break loose. Bia Bias supply and why they have it half populated for 230V and then add more parts for 115V is beyond me. Just throw a transformer on it (also for safety). Speaking of which... Gotta love it seeing this trash in there. Rifa caps known for going bad and blowing up right on the mains. This set is fitted with a motorized RK27 but I didn't get a remote control with it. The sensor underneath the front panel. This is actual Transdyn module and I can't say it made much of a difference to me. Another angle. The actual power amp driving the transformer: Not sure what Icepower model that is, haven't looked into it yet. This is certainly a way of doing this... It's hard to tell but no insulation on the mains wiring here either. I don't know what to think about this setup but it does work but looks very silly indeed. I'm tempted to design something long the lines of a 4070 arc setup which would carry the weight and be adjustable as this is not comfy for me. The space between the arcs just isn't wide enough for me. This cable is super thin, roughly 5mm in diameter and to think of the voltage in there... I hope it is made out of something very insulated. Genuine Fischer plugs though these are not the special HV ones used on the HE90 Just normal pins and 12mm across so a S104 plug if I remember correctly.

After around 7 years away from DIY, I got back into it a few weeks ago and finished this KGST. It’s been nice reconnecting with the bench. I still have a Carbon and a BH waiting to be finished (PCBs are populated, just need to design proper enclosures). Hopefully it won’t take me another 7 years this time...

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.

In the sprit of getting dirty I decided to list the Tarmac for sale and jump on this deal: It's a 2022 Cervelo Aspero 5 and the top of the line model at that. MSRP $10,500, I paid about 40c on the $ for it and the owner admitted that he bought it and essentially never rode it - condition backs that up. It also came with a like new Garmin head unit and tail light/radar setup which is pretty sweet. When I recently learned that they completed a ~9mi section of rail trail that can become ~50% of my morning commute I decided it was time to dive into the deep end. The color is something like "purple sunset" (cheers to you, Dusty) and is straight up wild. We'll see how the new modified commute goes tomorrow.

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

Long time no see, I have updated many different designs in the past few years. My estats are currently using an omega-like assembly structure but with a driver house made of PPS plastic, and shells are all made of CNC 7075t6 aluminum alloy + hard anodized. The tuning of my headphones has changed to a retro diffuse field target curve which is completely different tuning from stax that emphasizes 1-2khz and 4-6khz.I really enjoy the stax-style assembly method, which makes them look much more refined than German estats.

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

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