Craig Sawyers

One of the reasons Krell went with variable bias was that the sustained Class A beasts (KSA50, KSA100, KMA100 etc) ate power transistors. Krell rebranded them Krell A and Krell AA to hide what the real part was (in the same way Audio Research ground off the part number of transistors and painted on a three colour code). My KSA100 blew three times, in a final last gasp taking out the drivers and their emitter resistors to the extent they burnt part way though the board. This was typical of the entire series. So variable bias was introduced, not from some kind of green reasoning, but to mitigate self immolation tendencies.

Pardon?

This happened years ago to the recently late, and very great folk violinist Dave Swarbrick. He had major respiratory problems, and used to perform using an oxygen cylinder next to him on stage. Probably smoking induced emphysema. After a chest infection in 1999 he was rushed to hospital, and The Telegraph published his obituary! For then until his death 17 years later he used to sell signed copies of his obituray at his gigs (with Martin Carthy). Because of his iconic status and failing lungs, friends organised a series of charity concerts called "SwarbAid" to raise the money for him to have a double lung transplant. Those lungs saw him through another 12 years of stage performance until his actual death (rather than his premature death in print in 1999!) in June this year at age 75. Was lucky enough to see him with Martin Carthy at the Nettlebed Folk Club in October last year, and shake his hand.

The guy who is electronics design director at NAIM is called Steve Sells. Way back, I recruited him from University into Cambridge Audio, when he was already a power amplifier designer of some capability. After a short while, we moved that into Wharfedale, where we planned to re-launch the LEAK brand. I asked him to design the best power amp he possibly could, price no compromise. I told him that we had to out-Krell Krell, and if he felt that silver wired mains power transformers were essential, he could have them (he didn't - phew!). This was a superb animal, balanced input, bridged FET output monoblocks that would push 800W into 2 ohms, each with three mains transformers (two huge ones + and - for power transistors, and a single higher voltage one for the input amplifiers). Fast forward three decades, and NAIM told him the same thing, best possible no holds barred - Statement was the result. Not for those with less than seven figure salaries. An awesome audio tour de force. Have a look at this:

The picture of the Alberta Tar Sands site is from a TED talk here

You, Knucks, are on a roll! Awesome images.

Yes - the BT Virginia Woolf is massively intense. In The Burton Diaries he reckons that it was the best thing the he and Taylor did. I didn't realise until the above that it was from a Broadway play by Albee. RIP - what a legacy.

Have an absolutely great one, O tall person!

What a pioneer. RIP

RIP Sushi. Very sad to hear. 19 is a great innings.

Who would've thought that the Chihuahua was descended from the grey wolf (as are all dogs). Woof.

^That, Jose, is a serious bike. How's this for bike madness

Not for much longer. The production company received £15m a year from the BBC, but they wanted £25m for the 2017 series. The BBC were not prepared to pay that much, so Channel 4 (a commercial channel with advert breaks) will have the show next year. Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry and the others have not confirmed that they will make the move - so it looks as if the ratings will take a pasting. This is kind of breaking news. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37349837 .

Radiohead met when they were at Abingdon School in 1985, three miles from where I live. This is a public school, which in the UK is actually a private school for which you pay typically £6k to £12k per term, three terms per year. http://www.abingdon.org.uk/fees . It is a school for children of parents with very large incomes.

Happy birthday!

Seems like I'm just catching up. Gene Wilder - jeeze. I guess that is the problem with film - the younger self is recorded for all time, as the actor gets older. That must be one of the hardest things, to see films of yourself as a young person when you are old. So sad he went from Alzheimers. And so many great movies - Blazing Saddles particularly sticks in my mind. The clip of Young Frankenstein also has the incredible and long RIP Marty Feldman (1934 to 1982), a genius of comic writing and timing.

Can't tell you have relieved that makes me

Dunno if you can get this in the USofA, but the BBC has a series called "The Great British Bakeoff", and this week is Bread Week http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07v324h

WTF? It looks like an April Fool joke, except it ain't April. Here's an extract from their sales pitch - how about this for a USP: " You'll find it is designed to fit seamlessly into the outdated headphone connector, transforming last year's phone into a modern masterpiece"

The home page - wow. Average seems to be UKP500 per smoke.

Damn. This thread has reminded me how much I like a fine, but occasional cigar. I've bought a few over the years to enjoy with my son when he visits, from here https://www.havanahouse.co.uk/havana-house-oxford/ . This Christmas they are spending with us, so I'll buy a good selection later in the Autumn to enjoy with my lad (in the garden shed, accompanied by fine whiskey). We had some totally miserable ones in February in Dublin from an outfit that knew diddly squat about anything to do with storing cigars. Acrid horrible monstrosities, which should have been spectacular had they been stored and treated correctly.