Wmcmanus

James Bond be damned. We have Jeff on our side to alligators.

tangy taffy

At least he liked the fries...

Can't really 'argue' with that, as such, and I do understand where you're coming from. I'm sure it's based on a lot of experience, etc., etc... The only thing I'd pick on is the 'firm opinion' bit. In my opinion, it's best to give each product its own listening time rather than attempting to categorize and therefore conclude before evaluating. I have some IEMs that suck raw eggs and of course the JH13s which are fantastic; same goes for full sized closed headphones. In a sense, IEMs do get you "closer" to the "truth" in the music simply by eliminating any artifacts that the chamber itself can create (with full sized closed headphones). But that presupposes a level of correctness in the driver/aperture design and the ability to provide appropriate spacial cues that simply doesn't exist, for the most part, in IEMs that are on the market today. I do agree, however, that IEMs offer that one key advantage in that they eliminate a lot of variables by eliminating air space. Of course, the same can be said of closed headphones relative to speakers; a lot less air space in those small chambers covering your ears than in the room chamber of your living room. But it doesn't necessarily follow that one is inherently better than the other, IMO.

Aww, c'mon! Al won't mind!

Shelly, that's the same problem I have with the Qualia. Just as you described it, I have to place the headband way back in an awkward position on my head, or hold them from the sides to get even a decent seal. Bottom line is you'll never be able to fully enjoy them. If you just pop them on and they don't seal, then they'll sounded honky and thin. If you place them on awkwardly or try to hold them with your hands to get a seal, you'll never be able to relax enough to JUST listen to the music and forget about everything else. So stay away from the 404 and 404-LE as well. Chances are pretty good you'll have the same problems with them.

Interesting... so do you like the K1K sound better with or without the notch filter? Had my notch filter removed years ago and don't miss it myself.

That's what I thought! But the reality is that I've been ordering all kinds of stuff over the internet for years and I very rarely get shafted. I'd say that I probably have a 99+% success rate. Every now and then a CD or DVD won't show up, but I don't seem to have as many problems as most people do, and never with the big and/or expensive stuff.

Actually, I just found out that my mom is coming to Cayman on the 12th (I thought it was the 11th), so I might be able to make it for part of the weekend. I'll be there until the 6th anyway, so I might be able to reschedule my return flight and stay in Tampa for another week. Hmmm... it's worth considering anyway. I could leave on Sunday morning and be there to pick her up at the airport in Cayman when she arrives a couple of hours later. This would mean, however, that I wouldn't be able to book any Santa stuff until the 12th or later. Since everything I do is volunteer, missing something wouldn't "matter" (as such), but yet it does. I try to make myself as available as possible several key organizations (mostly grade schools) that like to book me every year. There are 3 or 4 events that I really look forward to doing and don't like to miss them unless I absolutely have to. I'll make some calls this week to see if I can get some of those dates nailed down.

Rally to restore inanity.

Oh!!! I don't think I've ever driven airport to airport as such, so perhaps it does take that long.

Story books for Mrs. Claus to read at the schools we visit:

I bought a pair of these for myself and another pair for my g/f this summer. The company I bought them from pulled a bait and switch on us! They sent a cheaper model in both cases, and won't respond to my emails. I finally gave up and started using them. My pair doesn't fit (my little toe doesn't reach into it's intended slot at all) so I've never actually worn them. Just tried them on a couple of time. My g/f's pair fit perfectly and she loves them, so I guess that was worth the $171 that it cost me for what would have been about $60 for the pair that we actually received (for her).

Orlando airport to Tampa airport is about a 45 minute drive, an hour at most.

^ I think Matt is the President of the sorority. It should be his duty. "Bring beer, not gear!"

^ No need to worry about this group becoming anti-headphones, or heaven forbid, anti-music! But to a great degree most of the Florida pack as well and the Team Florida traveling crew have 'been there, done that' in terms of gear, so I think the sentiment is that you needn't worry about schleping all of your gear along with you. Yet, if you want to bring some stuff, particularly something new and/or interesting, then by all means do! I always get a kick out of the newbies who show up to the NY meets and stumble all over themselves with apologies about not bringing 'enough' gear with them. We don't seem to get too much of that in Florida, I guess because (after the first couple of years anyway), the gear thing has become less and less of the focus.

Shoot, I just brought back a bunch of headphones from Tampa to Cayman. All things I collected this summer and fall: PS-1000, T1, LCD-2, DX-1000, W-1000X (which are actually pretty decent IMO), and the very red looking Phiaton thingies that I won at CanJam. Too late now, as they've all made it past the Customs revenue sniffers.

Frick! I just missed (by 5 minutes) a good deal on Audiogon for a VPI HW-17 record cleaner (only $650, half of the $1,300 new retail).

Congrats on the big win tonight, Al. Mighty impressive! Although... that 8th innings reminded me of some Little Leagues games that I watched my nephews play this summer. The audio feed out of the Giants dugout was a little muted, but did I actually hear Bruce Bochy telling his players not to swing?

Ya, it kind of sucks, but of course it's impossible to pick a date that works for everyone. Gene, Vicki, Mike, etc., I'll be in Tampa from Nov 26 - Dec 6th and would love to get together for some adult beverages at some point. Have Atom, will travel.

Have fun, sorry I can't make it.

I got stuck outside of the gate. My RV was inside. Didn't matter. Some days don't go as planned. Actually went to the Waffle House down the road for breakfast which killed about an hour, then got back again at 2:30am and only had to wait for 45 minutes before the manager woke up, saw me, and let me in. The picture of my dad was messed up beyond recognition, but there are plenty of others. I'll pick out another good on next time I'm home, but will make sure I get a good copy made.

Awww, you just miss me, don't cha?

Everything in your post and those that followed it. But that's Ok. I'll be interested in giving them a listen.

Got completely drenched in the Atom the other day on I-595 as I was leaving Ft. Lauderdale and heading back to Tampa. I stuck it out for about 5 miles, and then got off the interstate and hit a massive puddle in a parking lot. There was 4 inches of water inside the "tub" areas on the driver and passenger sides. My wallet got drenched so I lost some of my favorite pictures including one of my dad that can't be replaced. My cell phone and iPod crapped out as well, but that's just stuff. Got back to Tampa at 1:30am and the gate to the RV storage place wouldn't take my code. Got an "invalid time" error and then sat there until 3:15am when the resident manager woke up to take a piss and saw me on one of his security cameras. Then the gate opened and all was well again...